"Last year, Yankee fans suffered through a small period of the offseason where the Red Sox courted Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter's contract feud left open the idea that he could slip into another uniform.

This winter, it's Boston's turn to wait and see whether a Red Sox icon is bound for another city, whether Big Papi will be swatting homers in a home park other than Fenway. Maybe the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium would be a nice change of scenery?

"I don't know," David Ortiz told the Daily News Friday with a hearty chuckle when asked if he'll wear pinstripes for 2012. "I haven't heard my agent talking to me about any of that. It's something that, for me to play for the Yankees, they've got to come out with something that nobody ever had or nobody ever will, you know what I'm saying? There's a lot of things to think about."

Ortiz — who hosted his fourth annual charity golf tournament here, one that helps needy Dominican and New England children get critical pediatric care — didn't clarify what that "something" would have to be. But the free agent said later he thinks he still has several good years left and that regardless of how this winter unfolds, "I know somebody out there needs me for next year. I know I'm going to be somewhere next year. Where? I don't know. Hopefully Boston."

In an interview with ESPN in October, Ortiz did say, "That's something I gotta think about," when asked about perhaps signing with the Yankees, and added, "It's great from what I hear. It's a good situation to be involved in.

As for the situation in Boston, new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was on hand for Ortiz's charity dinner Friday night.

"I got an invitation from David's foundation marketing man to come to David's event. I wouldn't miss it," Valentine said. "I was able to catch a plane, come on down. Going to have a little fun tonight, and say hello and tell (Ortiz) how much I love him as a player."

When asked how important it was for him to have Ortiz on the team next season, Valentine said: "I've seen his individual talents and he's a game-changer. There are 30 teams that would want David Ortiz in their lineup."