David Ortiz wasn't surprised over the Boston Red Sox's trade of All-Star Rafael Devers.

The Red Sox surprised the baseball world with their sudden trade of Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for a number of young players including Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III and Jose Bello.

"No, there's some situations at some point that players and teams have to move on because they don't agree on a situation," says Ortiz in a one-on-one interview when asked if he was surprised over the trade. "And I guess that's what it was. The team asked him to play multiple positions and I guess he didn't want to."

Devers and the Red Sox had disagreements over what position he would play. The 28-year-old wanted to continue playing third base, but was moved to designated hitter after Boston signed All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman.

The three-time All-Star was in the midst of just the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension he had signed just a couple of years prior.

"Wishing him all the best over there in San Francisco, continuing to be successful and now we have over $300 million where we can go and get someone that can agree with what we have going on over here," says Ortiz.

The Red Sox have since struggled since the trade, going 5-8 since Devers was traded on June 15. Boston is currently 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees. They were 37-36 when they traded Dever, with his last series as a member of the team occurring as they swept the Yankees.

Devers and the Giants have also struggled since the trade, with San Francisco going 4-10 since the trade. They're currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak, with Devers hitting just .204 since the deal went down. He batted .272 as a member of the Red Sox.

However, as Ortiz points out, Devers wasn't happy in Boston and it was time for both sides to move on. The three-time World Series champion had tried to reach out to Devers to give him advice -- they're both from the Dominican Republic -- while he was still with the Red Sox, but was unsuccessful.

"Whatever makes you happy, it seems like he wasn’t," says Ortiz of Devers. "It seems like he wasn’t happy anymore and that’s exactly what happened. You have to move on. You can get stuck."

Ortiz is known as one of the greatest players in Red Sox history. "Big Papi" played 14 years in Boston, went to the All-Star Game 10 times and was named the World Series MVP in 2013. Those remarkable accomplishments led to him being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2022.

The 49-year-old certainly cemented his status as an all-time great on the baseball diamond and now he's looking to do so in the business world.

Ortiz is releasing his first alcoholic drink called "Ozama Rum." The Dominican-made rum brand is in reference to the Ozama River in Santo Domingo and celebrates Ortiz's heritage.

He says the idea of releasing his own rum brand started about a year-and-a-half ago and details why this rum stands out from others in the market.

"Rum is something that we're known worldwide (Dominican Republic) because of the ingredients and the sugar cane," says Ortiz. "Getting into that business was something that turned out to be special, especially if you put it into a premium ground and that's exactly what we did."

Ortiz says he was further encouraged by starting his own rum brand because it meant creating jobs in his home country.

"What encouraged me was basically creating jobs and the purpose of Osama River, doing business," says Ortiz. "That's what I do nowadays. It's a combination of a lot of good things that are behind us. We are trying to let people know every single detail about it. I'm very excited."

Ortiz says the feedback from people has been amazing, with some saying they don't experience a hangover the next day from drinking the rum.

"It's a premium rum, 100% Dominican," says Ortiz of Ozama Rum. "The feedback from people has been amazing. We come out with a really good formula. I tell you what, it doesn't give me any hangover. I don't want to promote that. You know how it goes. It's a really good rum. We spent a lot of quality time putting it together. We had a really good and amazing team right behind. I hope everything continues moving forward the way it is right now."

The Red Sox great has previously been associated with alcohol brands – beer and whiskey – but they were to promote the companies. Ozama Rum is Ortiz’s company and is the owner of the brand.

Ortiz details the long-term objective of his rum release and says the market is about the “pop off” for rum.

David Ortiz wasn't surprised over the Boston Red Sox's trade of All-Star Rafael Devers.

The Red Sox surprised the baseball world with their sudden trade of Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for a number of young players including Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III and Jose Bello.

"No, there's some situations at some point that players and teams have to move on because they don't agree on a situation," says Ortiz in a one-on-one interview when asked if he was surprised over the trade. "And I guess that's what it was. The team asked him to play multiple positions and I guess he didn't want to."

Devers and the Red Sox had disagreements over what position he would play. The 28-year-old wanted to continue playing third base, but was moved to designated hitter after Boston signed All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman.

The three-time All-Star was in the midst of just the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension he had signed just a couple of years prior.

"Wishing him all the best over there in San Francisco, continuing to be successful and now we have over $300 million where we can go and get someone that can agree with what we have going on over here," says Ortiz.

The Red Sox have since struggled since the trade, going 5-8 since Devers was traded on June 15. Boston is currently 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees. They were 37-36 when they traded Dever, with his last series as a member of the team occurring as they swept the Yankees.

Devers and the Giants have also struggled since the trade, with San Francisco going 4-10 since the trade. They're currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak, with Devers hitting just .204 since the deal went down. He batted .272 as a member of the Red Sox.

However, as Ortiz points out, Devers wasn't happy in Boston and it was time for both sides to move on. The three-time World Series champion had tried to reach out to Devers to give him advice -- they're both from the Dominican Republic -- while he was still with the Red Sox, but was unsuccessful.

"Whatever makes you happy, it seems like he wasn't," says Ortiz of Devers. "It seems like he wasn't happy anymore and that's exactly what happened. You gotta move on. You can get stuck."

Ortiz is known as one of the greatest players in Red Sox history. "Big Papi" played 14 years in Boston, went to the All-Star Game 10 times and was named the World Series MVP in 2013. Those remarkable accomplishments led to him being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2022.

The 49-year-old certainly cemented his status as an all-time great on the baseball diamond and now he's looking to do so in the business world.

Ortiz is releasing his first alcoholic drink called "Ozama Rum." The Dominican-made rum brand is in reference to the Ozama River in Santo Domingo and celebrates Ortiz's heritage.

He says the idea of releasing his own rum brand started about a year-and-a-half ago and details why this rum stands out from others in the market.

"Rum is something that we're known worldwide (Dominican Republic) because of the ingredients and the sugar cane," says Ortiz. "Getting into that business was something that turned out to be special, especially if you put it into a premium ground and that's exactly what we did."

Ortiz says he was further encouraged by starting his own rum brand because it meant creating jobs in his home country.

"What encouraged me was basically creating jobs and the purpose of Osama River, doing business," says Ortiz. "That's what I do nowadays. It's a combination of a lot of good things that are behind us. We are trying to let people know every single detail about it. I'm very excited."

Ortiz says the feedback from people has been amazing, with some saying they don't experience a hangover the next day from drinking the rum.

“The vision right now is basically keeping up with the good quality rum coming out of Dominican Republic,” says Ortiz. “That’s the vision right now. I feel like the market is saturated by a lot of things, wine, whiskey you name it. But I feel like the rum market is about to pop out.”

Ortiz says he was recently talking to a distributor from India – the most populated country in the world -- and they say that the most distributed beverage is rum. That gives him confidence that Ozama Rum has a bright future.

“We did a study about it and the only way you can take that to the next level, is coming out with a new quality rum and promoting it the right way,” says Ortiz. “Get people involved, show your passion. We’re just trying to build something that people are already familiar with. We just want to show you how good of a quality we have and how fun it can be, because with this rum, we have a mixer that ladies love because of how creative it is putting fruity drinks with a rum together.”

The Santo Domingo native says he hopes to bring people together with his rum release, which draws from his own memories of growing up with his family and having “fun” while getting together on the weekends.

“We’re trying to make it fun, because that’s what that’s what life is all about," says Ortiz. “When I was thinking about this rum, it brings me back to the memories of my family when I was a kid. When they got together during the weekend, the olders, they bring those bottles around just to hang out, having fun at the family homes, and as a kid, you’re running around, watching the adults have fun. That’s what it’s all about – the union, love, family, you name it.”