FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Red Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez was motivated by the idea that the first baseman could help bring the franchise a championship. If that happens, then lightning will have struck twice with the slugger.

Of course, the last time that Gonzalez delivered a championship, it was to the team that traded him away, rather than the one that acquired him. That memory loomed on Saturday over the first baseman’s first game with the Red Sox, against a Marlins team that drafted him and ultimately dealt him in pursuit of a title.

After a dreadful start that led to the firing of manager Jeff Torborg in May 2003, the Marlins (under new manager Jack McKeon) zoomed into the pennant race. But the bullpen (12-13, 4.62 ERA, nine blown saves) remained a liability in mid-July as the team’s hopes of contending flickered.

The Marlins were four games back. They were willing to sacrifice a prospect to bolster their hopes in 2003.

Gonzalez was well regarded. He had been taken with the top pick in the 2000 draft, and on the day he was introduced by the Marlins, he took batting practice prior to a game against the visiting Red Sox, launching missile after missile into the stands.

“That was a great experience. I really enjoyed it,” Gonzalez recalled of that first batting practice session in Pro Player Stadium. “It was something that kind of sets your mind to where you want to get to when you get to the big leagues.”

Still, it took a while for his power to translate in professional games. He did not hit a single homer over 61 games in his first pro season. But he would soon show significant offensive potential against older players.

In the Low-A Midwest League in 2001, he hit .312 with an .868 OPS, 17 homers and 103 RBI as a 19-year-old. He backed up that performance by hitting .266 with a .781 OPS, 17 homers and 96 RBI for Double-A Portland (then a Marlins affiliate) as the third youngest player in the Eastern League.

After each season, he was ranked the No. 31 prospect in the game by Baseball America. The Marlins regarded Gonzalez as an exceptional talent.

His precocious ability to drive the ball to the opposite field made him stand out almost as soon as he launched his professional career. John Mallee, the Marlins’ hitting coordinator when Gonzalez was in the system in 2002 and 2003, projected the young prospect as a 20-25 home run hitter whose all-around game would allow him to make an impact at the big league level.

“I really thought that he was going to be special. You don’t see those kind of actions, swing and that kind of determination at that age, and he had it all,” Mallee said at City of Palms Park yesterday. “He did everything so naturally. His swing was so natural and effortless.”

Similarly, Marlins first base and infield coach Perry Hill considered Gonzalez a defensive standout at that age who would emerge as one of the best glove men at his position.

“I could have predicted [Gold Gloves] back then,” Hill said. “He could play. Very good fielding first baseman. I was very impressed with him. I knew he was going to be a player.”

That said, Gonzalez suffered a setback after the 2002 campaign. Following the season, he underwent surgery to repair a tendon in his wrist. He rushed through the rehab, and his power disappeared.

“I can honestly say I didn’t rehab it the way I should have and when I started playing it wasn’t right, and it felt like it wasn’t right,” Gonzalez said earlier this spring. “I allowed myself to be rushed and it took almost a year and a half to feel 100 percent with the wrist. It was definitely a lesson.”

He started the 2003 season in Triple-A, but hit just .216 with a .573 OPS and one homer in 39 games in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. That led to a demotion back to Double-A, where Gonzalez hit for average (.307) but no power (1 homer in 36 games).

His stock slipped. The Marlins still regarded him highly, but with a power hitting first baseman (Derrek Lee) on the big league roster and another first base prospect (Jason Stokes) just behind Gonzalez in the minors, the 22-year-old was deemed expendable.

He was offered to the Mets, according to reports at the time, for Armando Benitez. When the Mets hesitated, the Rangers swooped in. They dealt closer Ugueth Urbina (an All-Star with the Sox in 2002) for Gonzalez and two other minor leaguers.

“The bottom line is you’re playing to win the World Series,” said Mallee. “He was a big piece. Selfishly we hated to see him go, and we thought he was going to be a great guy and a great player, but at that time, that obviously was the right move.”

Urbina was dominant for the Marlins down the stretch. He went 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA and six saves over the final months of the season, then saved four games in the postseason.

The closer (along with Sox castoff Chad Fox) helped to solidify the Florida bullpen, playing a critical part in a late-season surge that allowed the Marlins to claim the wild card and then storm through the postseason. The Marlins were the last team standing that year, something that might not have been possible but for the decision to deal Gonzalez.

Had they not won a World Series, perhaps the Marlins would still be lamenting their decision that year -- the sacrifice of a budding superstar first baseman for a reliever in a move that could have echoed the infamous Jeff Bagwell-for-Larry Anderson deal. But under the circumstances, it would be hard for Florida to harbor any doubts about dealing Gonzalez.

“In ’03, we needed Urbina, that finish guy. I don’t think we would have won the World Series without doing that trade,” said Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, who was the World Series MVP for the Marlins against the Yankees. “I don’t think anyone really saw [Gonzalez] doing what he’s done. He’s worked very, very diligently. He’s always been a very good hitter. I don’t think we saw the power numbers that we’re seeing now. That’s a testament to him.”

Now, Gonzalez’ credentials are solidified. Projection is no longer needed to recognize him as a superstar. And so, where the Marlins were once able to win a World Series because they traded him, the Sox can now hope that they claim a title of their own because they traded for him.