Managers love to talk about the flexibility of not having a full-time designated hitter. They can use the spot to give players rest, giving them in effect a half-day off. They can keep guys in the lineup when a minor injury may keep them from effectively playing in the field.
It's all true and it's all great, but there's a much better way to build an American League team:
Have a DH like David Ortiz.
Sure, there have been times when having Ortiz locked into the DH spot made things more complicated. It happened just this past season when the Red Sox realized they'd made an awful mistake signing Hanley Ramirez to play left field but weren't able to move him to his natural defensive spot because they had Ortiz there.
What has happened a lot more is that having the best DH in the game has given the Red Sox a big advantage at what should be an important lineup spot. Eight times in Ortiz's 13 seasons in Boston, the Red Sox have hit more DH home runs than any other team. In all but three of Ortiz's Red Sox seasons, the Sox have had a better record with Ortiz in the lineup than without him.
Overall, they're 205 games over .500 with him in the lineup and eight games under .500 in games he doesn't start.
All of which means Ortiz's coming retirement—announced last week, to take effect after the 2016 season—will be at least as much a challenge as an opportunity.
Sure, the Red Sox could just use the spot to solve their Hanley problem—if they can't trade him away and he can't adequately handle first base and they're not so fed up with him after another year that they can't stand the thought of him playing anywhere.
Ramirez was the Red Sox DH 11 times in 2015, and he hit five home runs in the role. But he wasn't a terribly effective offensive player in any role after April (.644 OPS). He's hardly a true replacement for Ortiz, who has a .951 OPS in 13 seasons with the Red Sox (and was still a very good .913 at 39 in 2015).
But who is?
Pablo Sandoval, who hasn't had a .913 OPS in any of his eight big league seasons and hasn't hit even 20 home runs in any season since 2011? Probably not.
The Red Sox could try to sign Chris Davis, with the idea he could play first base in 2016 and take over for Ortiz the next year. They could hope Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion gets to free agency after next season. But Bautista will be 36, and Encarnacion will be 34 by Opening Day 2017.
Or perhaps they'll get lucky, just as they did when the Minnesota Twins made the unfortunate decision to release a 27-year-old David Ortiz in December 2002. The Red Sox signed him for $1.25 million a month later.
Thirteen years later, it looks like one of the biggest and best decisions the Sox made as they put together the most successful era in franchise history. But 13 years later, plenty of teams still wonder whether it makes sense to commit to a full-time DH. (Ortiz started 75 games at first base in his first two seasons but only 66 games in 11 seasons since.)
As Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told John Tomase of WEEI.com earlier this month, it takes a "special type offensive player" to be worth the commitment of a roster spot and the money a top DH commands. (Ortiz will make $16 million next year.)
He's right. But finding that special type of player gives a team a big advantage. The last four American League pennant winners each had a full-time DH, and for three of the four (Kendrys Morales with the Royals this year, Ortiz with the 2013 Red Sox and Victor Martinez with the 2012 Detroit Tigers), the DH was a key guy in the middle of the lineup.
All three 2015 AL division winners had a full-time DH, all of them special offensive players (Prince Fielder with the Texas Rangers, Morales with the Royals and Encarnacion with the Toronto Blue Jays).
But didn't the Red Sox finish in last place the last two years, even with Ortiz as their special-type DH? Sure they did. They finished in last place while scoring the fourth-most runs in the majors.
They have Ortiz for one more season. They have a full year to figure out what to do with the DH spot once he leaves.
One more year with Ortiz and one more year to try to find another DH like him.
Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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