What Scouting Reports Said About David Ortiz Before Hall Of Fame Career

To fully appreciate David Ortiz’s journey to Cooperstown, one must remember the Dominican slugger wasn’t always pegged for baseball immortality.

Long before Big Papi, Baseball Hall of Famer, there was David Arias, a middle-of-the-road prospect looking to make a name for himself — both figuratively and literally, it turns out — in the Seattle Mariners organization. It wasn’t until he joined the Boston Red Sox, by way of the Minnesota Twins, that Ortiz — known as “David Arias” when breaking into pro ball — blossomed into a superstar.

Don’t believe us? Let’s travel back in time for a minute.

The Ringer published an in-depth feature in March 2019 that centered around the evolution of baseball scouting, with findings stemming from 73,000 “never-before-seen” MLB scouting reports spanning 1991 to 2003. The reports, provided by a former member of the Cincinnati Reds front office, show early impressions of many future big leaguers, including Ortiz, who originally signed with the Mariners in 1992 before landing with the Twins via trade in 1996.

Here’s what a 1997 scouting report on Ortiz said, according to a tweet from one of the feature’s authors, Ben Lindbergh:

Sam horn type body. Has big swing. Poor pitch selection. Looks weak on CB. Winds up on pitch and doesn’t setup well. Big body. Flashy actions in pregame. Throws sidearm. Could develop with maturity and power potential.

Admittedly, there’s some accuracy to that assessment. He did have a “big body” reminiscent of former Red Sox bopper Sam Horn, and “flashy” might be one of the best adjectives to ever describe Ortiz, whose larger-than-life personality somehow matched his eventual on-field greatness.

But it’s a testament to Ortiz’s work ethic and overall evolution, both on and off the field, that he was able to significantly improve his plate discipline and his swing to properly harness his light-tower power. Even the best-case projection for Ortiz probably didn’t peg him as a 10-time MLB All-Star.

Of course, it’s important to note Ortiz wasn’t a slouch during his formative years in the minors. He displayed steady improvement between 1994 and 1996, and even “stole the show” as a 20-year-old with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers when he beat then-Mariners stars Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez in an impromptu Home Run Derby.

In fact, according to The Seattle Times, then-Timber Rattlers manager Mike Goff told Mariners GM Woody Woodward during the 1996 season that Ortiz — still known as “David Arias” at the time — should be among the organization’s “untouchable” players.

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“He (Woodward) kind of laughed, and said, ‘You wouldn’t trade him for anybody?’ And I said, ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ ” Goff recalled in an article this past January, after Ortiz earned induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He was clutch just like he was in the big leagues,” Goff reportedly added. “And he loved to be in the limelight. When he was 19, 20 years old he loved to be at the plate with a chance to win the ballgame. That was just his personality. That’s why he was so rare.”

Goff’s advice evidently fell on deaf ears, as the Mariners traded Ortiz to the Twins in September 1996 to complete an earlier deal that sent Dave Hollins to Seattle.

Ortiz then debuted in The Show with Minnesota the following season and flashed his upside in subsequent years until the Twins released him in December 2002. That opened the door for Ortiz to sign with Boston before the 2003 season. The rest, as they say, is history.

“I think, our scouts think and our analysis dictates that he has a really high ceiling,” former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein told the Boston Herald in January 2003, per ESPN.com. “You’re looking at a player that has a chance to be an impact player in the middle of the lineup in the big leagues. That’s his ceiling and I hope he reaches it with us.”

It’s hard to categorize Seattle’s 1996 trade and Minnesota’s 2002 release as totally misguided, as Hollins was excellent for a Mariners team needing immediate in-season help and the Twins devoted six years (455 regular-season games) to seeing the Ortiz experience through.

But the Red Sox certainly reaped the benefits of Ortiz’s career trajectory, to the tune of three World Series titles (2004, 2007, 2013) amid a league-altering run of success.