It's no secret that Mookie Betts' departure from Boston has long been a sore spot for Red Sox fans.
But David Ortiz, arguably Betts' predecessor as the team's best and most popular player, says the organization has drawn important lessons from the controversial trade that sent Betts to the Dodgers.
"The reality is, what happened with Mookie, for the organization, was a learning process," Ortiz said on WEEI's "Jones & Mego" on Tuesday afternoon. "Sometimes things like that have to happen for us to understand and realize that the game has changed."
According to Ortiz, baseball's biggest stars are now commanding contracts that seemed unfathomable even when Betts' free agency was approaching toward the end of his tenure in Boston.
The proof of the Red Sox's course correction came with the long-term contract signed by third baseman Rafael Devers, Papi said.
"Before that, you look around, and $300 million was never offered to anyone. So, seeing the departure of Mookie, and seeing what things had turned out to be, they were like 'OK, we've got to do it with Raffy.'"
Ortiz, a Hall of Famer, was appearing on "Jones & Mego" as part of the 21st annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon to strike out cancer.
The 10-time All-Star is optimistic that in the aftermath of the Betts saga, the Sox will strike the right balance between retaining homegrown stars and surrounding them with good players from outside the organization.
"You can do both," Ortiz said. "You can bring talent from the outside, but never forget about the talent that you have here. ... Listen, playing here in Boston, is not easy. It's not easy. I don't care if you were a superstar somewhere else. If you don't bring in the right person -- doesn't matter what type of player he's been somewhere else -- here is different. And not everybody that you can bring from the outside is able to perform at the highest level once you jump on the field and see 45,000-plus fans cheering for you every day, wanting for you to do something. Not everybody can handle it. But when you have a guy in the building, and you know what he's going to give you every year, that's a keeper.
"Listen, I'm a Red Sock for life. I want to see them win the World Series every year. ... I'm having a hard time watching Xander Bogaerts play in San Diego -- I'm not gonna lie. I'm suffering not watching him playing shortstop here. And it's not because that's one of my boys, it's because what he did while he was here. I know what Bogey was going to give me every year. But, on the other hand, it's business, and sometimes you have to lose to end up winning, and hopefully that's the case."
It's this special relationship with the team and the city that drives Ortiz to do his part for the Jimmy Fund every year.
"There's no way not to want to do something about it. It goes beyond the game, it goes beyond everything. We're talking about trying to bring children, people, to have a good life, a healthy life. ... The minute I got here to Boston and got to know about it, every year I want to do something about it."
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