MLB Expected To Look Into Ortiz's Comments On Encarnacion

BOSTON (CBS) -- David Ortiz said a lot of things at his final All-Star Game earlier this week, but one comment may have the Red Sox DH in hot water with Major League Baseball.

Ortiz knows the Red Sox need a big bat for the middle of the lineup next season when he's enjoying retirement somewhere on the beach in the Dominican Republic. And he already has a replacement in mind: Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion.

"The Red Sox know that they need to reinforce the middle of the lineup. And, sorry Blue Jays, but who better than Encarnacion to do that?" Ortiz told reporters after his 10th All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

Encarnacion, the AL's current RBI leader and the man who actually replaced Ortiz on the base paths when he was lifted in the bottom of the third inning Tuesday night, is set to be a free agent at the end of the season. Ortiz's sales pitch may have just been an innocent comment but it ruffled some feathers north of the border, and closer to home in the MLB offices.

So much so that Big Papi will likely get a stern talking-to for trying to play GM, which could be seen as tampering.

Major League Baesball rules and regulations state: "There shall be no negotiations or dealings respecting employment, either present or prospective, between any player, coach or manager…unless the Club or baseball employer with which the person is connected shall have, in writing, expressly authorized such negotiations or dealings prior to their commencement."

Ortiz is certainly enjoying his farewell tour around baseball, but he may want to keep quiet when it comes to players on other teams.

In:
• MLB
• David Ortiz
• Boston Red Sox