SEATTLE -- For years, former Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan hasnt been able to live down releasing David Ortiz after the 2002 season.Somehow, though, the Seattle Mariners have largely escaped ridicule for trading Big Papi.It was one of the worst trades ever made, said Mike Goff, who managed Ortiz for the Mariners Single-A affiliate in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1996. But it was something they wanted to do.Back then, the Mariners had a loaded big league roster, led by Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson and 20-year-old Alex Rodriguez. They were trying to win a close wild-card race and believed they needed an upgrade over third baseman Russ Davis. On Aug. 29, 1996, they agreed to send a minor leaguer to the Twins after the season in exchange for veteran Dave Hollins.I got a call with about a month or so to go in the season, maybe a little bit longer, and the phone call was, Who are the untradeables on your club? Goff recalled. Ill never forget that phone call as long as I live. I said, Well, Ive got two.Goff advised the Mariners to hold on to Greg Wooten, a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Eugene, Oregon, who had been drafted in the third round in 1995 and was in the middle of going 15-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 27 starts over two Single-A levels.But Goff also hailed David Arias, a 20-year-old first baseman who wouldnt stop using his mothers maiden name until a year later, when he began going by David Ortiz.Ill never forget them asking me, You wouldnt trade Arias for anybody? Goff said. I go, No, I wouldnt trade him for anybody. That conversation ends, and we make the trade for Dave Hollins. We didnt know who the player to be named later was.Ortiz finished the 1996 season batting .322 with 18 home runs and a .901 OPS. He led Wisconsin to the Midwest League playoffs, losing in the championship series to West Michigan.If I would have played one more year in the minor league system for them, I wouldve been the No. 1 prospect in the organization, Ortiz said. I killed [in 96]. But I dont know. They traded me.Goff found out that Ortiz was headed to the Twins after the final game of the season. Ortiz, who hadnt been traded before or since, admitted he had no clue what was happening when Goff informed him.We come off the field, and my phone is ringing. I look at my pitching coach, and I think we both had the same bad gut feeling at that time, Goff said. I pick the phone up, and Im not going to mention who was on the other end, but the phone call was, Dont let Arias leave the club. Im like, Dont tell me he was the played to be named later, and they said, Yes, he was. And I lost it. Im going to be honest with you, I lost it.I had to call Davey in and tell him hes been traded. It was like telling my son that he got traded. He didnt want to go because he had built such a special bond with the kids on that team and had the biggest year of his life and the fear of the unknown. Next day, of course, everybody went their separate ways. He flew back to the Dominican, and the next thing I know, hes in a Twins uniform, which was hard to accept. But thats the reality of the business.Indeed, Ortiz flew through the Twins farm system in 1997, playing at three levels before getting called up to the big leagues late in the season. He spent parts of six seasons in Minnesota before eventually winding up with the Boston Red Sox, morphing into one of the all-time greatest sluggers and a member of the 500-homer club.The Mariners, who will honor Ortiz with a pregame ceremony Wednesday night at Safeco Field to mark his final regular-season trip to Seattle, missed the playoffs in 1996, though it was hardly Hollins fault. He batted .351 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs in 30 games before leaving Seattle as a free agent and signing with the Anaheim Angels.Looking back, Goff suspects the Twins got a good recommendation on Ortiz from Dan Rohn, who managed their Midwest League team in Fort Wayne in 1996. Regardless, he can only imagine how the Mariners history might be different if they had kept Ortiz.At that time, we had a loaded major league club. Im sure thats what they were looking at, Goff said. They thought this kid was four, five years away, which in reality, I thought he was two years away. And you saw that with the way he came through the Twins system. But that was the story of how Davey ended up in a Twins uniform.A story that has gone largely forgotten over the years. China Shoes 2020 . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Discount Shoes For Sale . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. https://www.wholesaleshoesusa.com/ . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Wholesale Nike Shoes .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. At 6-foot-8, Tyler Glasnow is an imposing figure on the mound. Unsurprisingly, his height makes him dangerous on the basketball court as well.On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect posted a video on his Twitter account of him going between his legs to unleash an impressive dunk.With the video, Glasnow wrote that he has decided to pursue my dream playing division 4 basketball in Mozambique. Fret not, Pirates fans: He wasnt aactually serious.ddddddddddddlasnow made his highly anticipated major league debut this year, going 0-2 with a 4.24 ERA in seven games (four starts). His reputation as one of baseballs top prospects seems to indicate that he shouldnt have to worry about a change in sport anytime soon.-- Kyle Brasseur ' ' '