David Ortiz says 2 offseason additions will make Red Sox a complete team

It’s been nine years since David Ortiz played his final game, but he never stops thinking about what the Red Sox need to win.

The Hall of Fame slugger remains – to borrow a phrase from this year’s squad – ‘tremendously locked in’ on the Red Sox state of affairs. Even as he hosted droves of superstar athletes, celebrities and fans at his 17th annual “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., this weekend, he couldn’t help but offer an unprompted assessment of the ‘25 season and the team’s offseason needs.

“(Alex) Bregman just went for the free agency, hopefully we can work something out for him,” Ortiz told the Herald over Zoom. “He did it all here. He got really good leadership, he did what we were expecting from him. Even going through some injuries, he represented very well himself and this organization… Hopefully lock him in, because good players are always going to be good players.”

“We know what we need. We probably need a couple more power hitters that give support to the lineup,” Ortiz continued. “Pitching-wise, we are looking really good… I think our front office is going to be on a mission this offseason, because like I said, we are not too far away from facing a World Series. We just need to try to stay healthy, add a couple of more pieces, and I think we will be good to go.”

Ortiz still says ‘We’ when referring to the Red Sox because he never really left. Less than a year after his last game, he signed a ‘forever’ contract to remain with the club in a multifaceted role that includes player mentor, special advisor, and ambassador. He makes regular appearances at spring training and Fenway Park throughout the seasons.

Ortiz’s star-studded Celebrity Golf Classics always includes several Red Sox teammates; this year’s guest list includes fellow Hall of Famers Jim Rice and Pedro Martinez, as well as Dustin Pedroia, Johnny Damon, David Ross, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Brock Holt. Rice, Ortiz says, is the best golfer in the Red Sox bunch.

To date, Ortiz’s annual philanthropic extravaganza has raised nearly $14 million to provide lifesaving cardiac care to children in his native Dominican Republic and New England, which became his second home over his 14 Red Sox seasons. (So much so that in 2013, he even finished third in Boston’s mayoral election as a write-in candidate.) Ortiz hopes this year’s event will raise $1.9 million.

“The more money we raise, the (better) our chances are of saving life, and that’s all that matters right here,” Ortiz said. “Being able to raise money to give kids a better lifestyle for them and their families is something that makes me sleep well.”

Two of the most promising Red Sox rookies the club has seen in a long time are in attendance this weekend, too: Roman Anthony and Carlos Narváez.

“The future looks bright,” Ortiz said. “Those kids, they are very talented, they are very young and they are very mature. That’s all it takes. Maturity just brings good chemistry around, and that’s how you win. That’s how you win games.”

Had Anthony not suffered an oblique strain in early September, Ortiz is confident the Red Sox’s first postseason run since ‘21 would have lasted longer than a first-round exit.

“Maybe if Roman Anthony was healthy, we probably would have beaten the Yankees, “ Ortiz said, before delivering what has become his signature line. “And I would have been saying ‘DAAAA Yankees lose!’”

Instead, those words were delivered the following week by another American League East superstar, in a moment that quickly went viral on social media. As Blue Jays teammates reveled around him in their champagne-soaked clubhouse after eliminating the Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. donned a headset for the FOX Sports postgame show and shouted, “DAAAA Yankees lose!”

Ortiz burst out laughing and jubilantly shouted it back. He and Guerrero then delivered the line twice more in unison, much to the dismay of fellow FOX analysts and longtime Yankees rivals Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

And it was all totally unscripted.

“He was like, ‘Papi, can we say what we say?’ ” Ortiz said, his trademark chuckle punctuating the ensuing recollection, “And I was like, ‘OK let’s do it,’ but I didn’t know what he was gonna say. When he said it, I was like, ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’ ”

Despite their first-round exit, Ortiz is very proud of what he still considers his team.

“We just got closer to what we want to be, so I’m very happy,” he said of the ‘25 Red Sox. “It was better than what I expected, because we lost (Triston) Casas, we traded (Rafael) Devers … but we were able to survive and put ourselves in pretty good shape, and started straight winning before the first half of the season (ended) and stayed firing the whole second half of the season. I mean, it was majestic. And that tells you we had the talent.”