Ortiz preparing for 'monster season' before retirement

If David Ortiz's career has told us anything, his 20th and final season will have a flair for the dramatic.

Arguably one of the most clutch hitters of all time, the Boston Red Sox slugger announced in November that he will retire at the end of the 2016 season. With a World Series title sandwiched in between three last-place finishes in the past four years for the Red Sox, Ortiz has been hitting the gym in hopes of going out on top.

"To my Red Sox fans, you guys deserve better," Ortiz tweeted Monday. "I'm getting ready for a monster season."

Ortiz has showed no signs of slowing down with age. The 40-year-old has hit at least 30 homers and driven in 100 runs in each of the past three seasons, and is coming off a year in which he hit 37 home runs - the most since 2006.

"I feel good. I know things are going well," Ortiz said in early December. "I had a good season last year, and I'm definitely going to pull myself together to have another good one this year. That was my decision. I think there's no regrets."

The Red Sox should be much improved heading into this season after adding Craig Kimbrel, David Price, and Carson Smith to a revamped pitching staff.