Baseball Hall of Famer and three-time World Series champion David “Big Papi” Ortiz is in some hot water with fans. The Boston Red Sox legend and ten-time MLB All-Star is being called out for his dealings with a Dominican lender.
Ortiz is tied to Dominican baseball high-interest lenders through multi-million-dollar investments with lender Santo Caraballo. The las prestamistas system in the Dominican Republica connects impoverished parents of talented young baseball prospects with lenders who will extend high-interest loans up front against the boys’ future baseball bonuses.
A new report from ProPublica shows “Big Papi,” as he’s affectionately known, has invested millions into lender Caraballo’s baseball business.
Ortiz In Pretty Deep With Carabello
According to other reports Ortiz co-founded Florida-based Big Papi Sports Group in 2021. Ortiz also reportedly opposed reforms targeting high-interest loans tied to young prospects. All of this while denying he knowingly exploited players, claiming loans targeted trainers, not kids.
Red Sox legend David Ortiz says that he ended his personal relationship with high-interest, predatory lender Santo Caraballo a few years ago after “noticing conduct that the Hall of Famer considered inappropriate (Getty Images)
Nearly 80 percent of Dominican MLB bonuses have attached high-interest loans. In the legal landscape of it all the Dominican Republic repealed usury laws 24 years ago.
Ortiz Lawyer Releases Statement On His Behalf
In an attempt to clarify his relationship with Caraballo, Ortiz had his lawyer attempt to do damage control with a statement.
In a statement sent to Pro Publica through his lawyer, Ortiz said that his business relationship with Caraballo “began to come to an end” more than 18 months ago.” He added that he ended his personal relationship with Caraballo “a year and a half to two years ago” after “noticing conduct by Mr. Caraballo that I considered inappropriate. I started distancing myself from him personally and placed the relevant matters in the hands of my legal advisors.”
Fans Come For Big Papi
“This guy’s been dancing his fat ass through the raindrops for decades. Started with him being implicated on the positive HGH list with no consequences. Screw this criminal miscreant,” a fan said.
“David Ortiz has always been a cheating POS. Drug kingpins don’t order hits on nobodies,” another fan said.
“Great reporting on a mess that MLB needs to address. Praying on the poor and illiterate in trying to farm kids into players. Despicable,” a fan commented.
“Ortiz always seemed like an MLB Jester to me. Paraded on camera, approved by owners. It never seemed natural,” someone else said.
“Been telling my family for years this guy is a phony – never bought his act,” a person mentioned.
“Made it out and pulled the ladder up behind him instead of building a staircase for everyone else to walk up,” a fan quipped.
“Wow. This should be a bigger story,” another fan spewed.
How Will Ortiz Spin This In His Favor?
The legendary slugger will attempt to frame the ProPublica Investigation on Dominican youth baseball as grassroots survival rather than exploitation. The Red Sox playoff hero already leans on the real economic vacuum in the Dominican Republic — asking who feeds, clothes, and equips a 13-year-old if trainers don’t step up.
He will likely spin dismissing percentage-of-bonus agreements as standard high-risk risk-capital (“it’s a business deal”) rather than predatory lending. Ortiz will definitely lean on his massive philanthropic footprint (David Ortiz Children’s Fund) and cultural ambassador status to humanize his involvement.
