Theo Epstein: David Ortiz requested trade from Red Sox in 2003
David Ortiz, the epitome of Boston Red Sox lore, almost saw his career in Beantown end shortly after it began in 2003.
Former Red Sox general manager and current Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein admitted Big Papi asked Boston for a trade four months into a one-year, non-guaranteed $1.25-million contract he signed in January 2003.
"David Ortiz hit all of two runs in the first (two months) of the 2003 season and in mid-May had his agent come and ask me for a trade to somewhere he could play more regularly," Epstein told Mark Feinsand during an appearance on MLB.com's Executive Access.
"Fernando Cuza came to talk to me and I told Cuza at the time that David was someone we wanted to get everyday at-bats, but we just needed to pare down the roster a little bit. We ended up trading (Shea) Hillenbrand instead of David Ortiz, so I guess that was a good decision in hindsight. David got regular playing time and ended up hitting close to 30 homers in the second half of the season and was off and running as Big Papi."
Though it might seem crazy now, the Red Sox parting ways with Ortiz wouldn't have been an indefensible move at the time. Kevin Millar was coming off a fine 2002 season at first base, Jeremy Giambi was viewed as an attractive option (at least according to sabermetrics), and Hillenbrand - an All-Star in 2002 - finished April hitting .333/.382/.495 with 10 doubles.
As Epstein duly notes, the then-27-year-old Ortiz, who had had a monster second half with the Minnesota Twins in 2002 prior to signing his Red Sox deal, carried with him enough upside that Boston's front office decided to deal Hillenbrand to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Byung-Hyun Kim only a few weeks after Ortiz's trade request.
It turned out to be one of the best moves Epstein did, or in this case, didn't make, as Ortiz would go on to hit .298/.377/.624 with 30 home runs and 95 RBIs through the rest of the 2003 season.
The rest, as they say, is history.