Big Papi: My Favorite Mistake?

I try to avoid blogging about sports. There are enough sports writers out there that do it better (or at least more often) than me, and far too few interesting topics to go around. But I just caught David Ortiz’s Sunday Conversation on ESPN and cannot help myself. I’ll try not to make a habit of it.

With the perfect knowledge of hindsight, the Twins made a huge mistake letting David Ortiz go. No doubt about it. Big Papi is a one man wrecking ball at the plate. He’s a legit MVP candidate and once of the best clutch hitters of all time. Bill Simmons compared him Larry Bird, and deservedly so. How could the Twins have given up on this guy? National commentators scoff at the Twins for waiving him.

But it is not as simple as it seems. The Twins may have stifled Ortiz, fighting is natural swing tendencies. But they did not miss out on some sort of “David Oritz era” of Twins baseball. David Ortiz would not have become the player he is today if he was still a Twin. He would have been a career .290, 25 home run, 90 rbi designated hitter. I know the Twins would jump at the prospect of those numbers from the DH spot, but those are not the eye popping 40-55 home runs and 110-150 rbi that fans around the world have come to expect from Big Papi.

I maintain that Ortiz needed to be waived by Twins. It gave him a change of scenery and a burning motivation. Most importantly, he needed Manny Ramirez lurking behind him in the order. Or any smart opposing teams would have walked him every other at bat. David Ortiz needed the bright lights and big stage. Without the Yankee / Red Sox rivalry and Game 6 A.L.C.S. home run he is a just a “good player” instead of “one of the best late inning hitters baseball has ever seen.”

With the Twins, he was little more than an injury prone, inconsistent hitter. He had five and half years of ups and downs, nagging injuries, and mediocre glove-work. He maddened fans by showing signs of promise, but never putting it together for any extended period of time. Nothing about him screamed “MVP.”

Just as Michael Jordan would not have become the mythical figure he is today if he hadn’t played for the Bulls. And it is pretty clear that Derek Jeter would not be a super star if he didn’t play in New York. In the same ways David Ortiz would never have become “Big Papi” if he stayed with the Twins.

Finally, it is a stone cold truth that the Twins would not have been able to pay him the money he could have demanded. It is nice to dream about the idea of David Ortiz as the most popular Twin since Kirby. But that just would not have been the case. For all the reasons above, I’m not disappointed the Twins waived Big Papi.

Now I realize that this post might be a thinly-veiled attempt at rationalizing a poor decision by my favorite baseball team. But whatever actually motivated me to write this, I just wish that the national media would stop inferring that the Twins organization was “out of its collective mind” for waiving David Ortiz. It’s not that simple.

Here's a great article about... "The Curse of David Ortiz"