David Ortiz Comeback? Red Sox Not Pushing Retired Slugger: 'He'd Call'

David Ortiz is such an important part of Boston Red Sox history that players and fans alike are having trouble coping with his retirement.

Big Papi, of course, didn’t do those people any favors Tuesday night, when he joked on Instagram about making a comeback after the Red Sox acquired left-handed ace Chris Sale in a blockbuster trade.

So, is Ortiz’s unretirement worth serious consideration? Team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski isn’t going to be the one to find out.

“I wouldn’t want to reach out to him,” Dombrowski said Wednesday at Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, via The Providence Journal. “I wouldn’t want to keep bothering him.”

For what it’s worth, Dombrowski believes Ortiz’s Instagram joke was nothing more than that.

“I know David well enough — and I know that if he really had sincere interest, that he would call,” Dombrowski added. “It’s just like when I walk into the (Fenway Park) clubhouse and he’s working out and I say, ‘Hey, you could play now in the shape you’re in,’ and he says, ‘Oh, no, no, no.'”

Ortiz posted incredible numbers in 2016, as many wondered why he’d leave at the top of his game. But the 41-year-old also was hobbled by severe, chronic foot pain and has said on multiple occasions his body couldn’t withstand another MLB season.

There’s also this: Even if Big Papi wanted to come back, he couldn’t play until June 2017, since he’d have to wait 60 days to become eligible off the voluntary retired list.

We’re sure the hints and teases will continue throughout the offseason, but it’s time to face the reality of a Red Sox team without Big Papi.