David Ortiz: What might have been

David Ortiz, the former Minnesota Twin, provided the opportunity for Twins fans to wonder what might have been last week when he hit his 500th career home run, pretty much guaranteeing him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y..

That’s 442 home runs more than he hit for the team that gave up on him when it released him in December 2002.

Ortiz hasn’t forgotten that, judging by this profile on Derek Jeter’s “The Players Tribune” that was posted this morning.

Ortiz had a bad year in 2002 for the Twins and he was eligible for arbitration. The Twins released him to make room for shortstop Jose Morban, who never played a game for the Twins, and hit 2 home runs in his only season in the major leagues.

Ortiz then signed with the Red Sox, who paid him just $300,000 more than the Twins were paying him.

He finished fifth in the Most Valuable Player voting the next season.