Epstein hopes Cubs meet Ortiz, Red Sox in World Series

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein hopes Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz goes out on top ... well, close to.

With Ortiz on the verge of his 20th and final season before retirement, Epstein has nothing but admiration for the man he helped bring to Boston in 2003, and hopes his current and former club will meet this October to send Ortiz off.

"I'm really rooting for him to put the cherry on top of a Hall of Fame career and to go out on top - well, to get to the World Series and hopefully the Cubs will be there, as well," Epstein told reporters. "I'm rooting for him. I'm proud of his entire career, how he's conducted himself and everything he's meant to this organization. He deserves a great year personally and for the club as a whole in his swan song."

Epstein can take much of the credit for bringing arguably the best designated hitter of all time to Boston. Following his release from the Minnesota Twins after the 2002 season, Epstein took a low-risk chance and signed Ortiz to a one-year, $1.25-million deal that January.

Ortiz, however, got off to a slow start with the Red Sox and was receiving minimal at-bats. In mid-to-late May, his agent asked Epstein if the team would consider trading Ortiz in order for him to get regular playing time.

"I knew we weren't going to trade David, but I said, 'Hey, we'll do something soon to clear up some opportunity for him,'" Epstein told WBZ. "Within the week we traded Shea Hillenbrand to the Diamondbacks, which cleared up regular at-bats for David ... and he took off, hit 30 bombs in the second half of the season and became 'Big Papi,' somewhere in October 2003. The rest is history."

Ortiz would go on to spend the next 13 seasons in Boston, winning three World Series titles, earning 2013 World Series MVP honors, and bashing 445 home runs while outlasting Epstein, who left for the Cubs in 2011.