David Ortiz says Boston Red Sox must keep Rafael Devers on long-term deal, touts All-Star 3B as 'face of that organization'

David Ortiz has touted the talents of Rafael Devers for a few years now, and if it's up to the new Hall of Famer, the star third baseman will remain with the Boston Red Sox for a very long time.

«As a fan, watching the game, you always expect him to come through,» Ortiz said Thursday in advance of next week's Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y. «I hope the Red Sox make sense about the decision they have to make about him.

»We've got to keep Devers around. It's the face of that organization, as of right now. Nobody can argue that."

Devers has one more year of arbitration eligibility left after this season before becoming eligible for free agency. If Devers and his representatives are unable to agree to a long-term contract with the Red Sox, the two-time All-Star could become a trade candidate, following in the footsteps of former Red Sox MVP Mookie Betts.

The Red Sox parting with Devers is not something Ortiz would like to see happen.

«When I first saw him a couple of years ago in the big leagues, I right away told the Red Sox, 'You've got to let this guy in,'» Ortiz said. «Devers might be one of the top three pure hitters right now. Not 'might,' because I'm 100 percent sure right now.»

Like Ortiz, Devers was born in the Dominican Republic, which has become a hotbed of talent in recent baseball history. Ortiz was a big part of that as he ranks fourth on the all-time leaderboard among Dominican-born players with 541 career homers, according to baseball-reference.com, behind Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa.

Devers has a long way to go to catch Ortiz on that list, but he's off to a great start. His 131 career homers through age 25 rank fourth on the list of Dominican-born sluggers, and he has a