QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 7, 2009 -> 09:32 AM)
I'm not saying one thing or another, but you can spin it many different ways.
He was also hampered with injuries most of his time in Minnesota and he was playing for an organization that tended to frown upon the hr's. I'm not saying the Twins didn't want Ortiz hitting 50Hr's a year, rather they look for more complete hitters and when he went to Boston he was entering his prime, was healthy, and was able to actually swing away and was allowed to drive the ball more. There were a lot of people around baseball for a couple years when Ortiz was with the Twins talking about how good he could be, but injuries led to him getting DFA'd and the Red Sox took a chance.
No one thought he'd be as good as he was, but people thought he had ability. Even Sammy, the guy hit for power well before he was roiding or at least well before his body was super huge.
Going to pull the Bill Simmons article on you for this one.