Ortiz: Sox would have won Series with Manny
Big Papi says Ramirez situation was tough on his Boston teammates
 Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images David Ortiz, left, said it was no secret that Manny Ramirez wanted the Red Sox to trade him. |
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Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said Wednesday that former teammate Manny Ramirez wanted out of Boston for years and that the club "probably" would have won this year's World Series if Ramirez had not been traded.
Ortiz, speaking with Boston radio station WEEI, wouldn't say directly that Ramirez dogged it in his final days with the Red Sox last season, but he added that it was no secret Ramirez wanted the club to trade him.
"Well, to tell you the truth, it was something going down between the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez that I can never really break that down for you because there's some personal reasons that he has with our owners and I never got to the bottom of it, and [he's] got his feelings," Ortiz said. "You know, Manny was, he got to the point that he really wanted to get to play for someone else."
Ortiz admitted that Ramirez's saga affected those around him.
"The Manny situation was a tough situation for the team, for us the teammates, for him as a player," Ortiz said. "He was trying to get to be out, everybody knows, it's not news, for the past few years and it was something that it was getting worse and worse and worse every year."
The Red Sox finally traded Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team deal at the July 31 nonwaiver deadline. Ramirez led L.A. to the National League West title. Boston, with Jason Bay replacing Ramirez in left field, advanced to the American League Championship Series, losing in seven games to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Asked if he thought the Sox would have gone all the way with Ramirez in the lineup, Ortiz replied: "Probably. I'm not going to lie to you, probably."
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