Is There A Price to Pay For Pettiness?
On the Rafael Devers trade, who's right or wrong, and does it matter if the Red Sox win?
The Boston Red Sox largely spent the first two months of the season looking like a team out of sorts, leading MLB in errors and a bullpen prone to blow-ups, which was not helped by inconsistent starting pitching and offense. That’s not how this was supposed to go, especially not after an offseason that boasted acquisitions of Alex Bregman, Garret Crochet, Walker Buehler, and what increasingly becomes an underrated trade for catcher Carlos Narváez. But after calling up their top prospect in Roman Anthony, sweeping the mighty Yankees at Fenway, overall taking five of six from them in a week and a half, en route to what would culminate in a six-game win streak, the vibes were as they say, extremely high.
The Red Sox seemed to be turning a corner, exhibiting signs of life with momentum finally in their favor as they boarded their plane to head West to Seattle to embark on a nine-game road trip. Except, they left Boston’s Logan International Airport one passenger short.
Rafael Devers, their 3B/DH, who signed with the Sox as a 16-year-old in 2013, who remained the lone cornerstone of a franchise that once employed the likes of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi - all of whom were a part of the 2018 World Series winning team, who earned the largest contract in team history, was instead in an Uber headed back to Fenway. He had shockingly been traded to the San Francisco Giants.
Given that Devers was well on his way to representing the Red Sox as the starting DH in this summer’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, the news was understandably jaw-dropping both within the baseball world and us mere onlookers. I had to re-read the post from MLB on FOX at least three times to ensure it wasn’t actually from the parody account MLB on FAX. Furthermore, the news broke just minutes before the Giants were set to take on the Dodgers in Sunday Night Baseball, a game that pitcher Kyle Harrison, one of the pieces going to Boston in the trade, was set to start. The timing of it from all angles was bizarre at best.
If you are unfamiliar with the events that took place during Spring Training and beyond, allow me to quickly enlighten you. Although by all accounts, Rafael Devers was set to be the Red Sox's starting third baseman for the foreseeable future, the Sox were kicking the tires on the possibility of acquiring either Nolan Arenado or Alex Bregman, both of whom are third basemen, after losing out on Juan Soto. At his first media availability, Devers said the front office assured him of his role at third. With the Sox ultimately landing Bregman, Devers doubled down on his conversation with the front office, with a refusal to move to DH.
Despite all this, after a conversation with GM Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora, Bregman started the season as the Red Sox's third baseman and Devers the DH, and a team-first attitude. After a historically awful start in which he went 0-21 with 15 strikeouts, Devers eventually settled in to hit his offensive stride. Fast forward to May 2, when first baseman Tristan Casas suffered a brutal season-ending leg injury vs the Rangers. Devers was again being asked to consider a position change. Not only did Devers again refuse, but he poignantly wondered aloud if Breslow had something personally against him. Even with the refusal, he noted that it was probably not in the team’s best interest to have him move, having only spent a month as a DH. Former Red Sox David Ortiz backed him up on it too. It was the first real sign of publicly promoting extensive criticism towards how Breslow and the front office were operating.
“I don’t think me personally it’s the best decision after they asked me to play a different position and I only have two months of playing this position.” - Rafael Devers
Which brings us to June 15, 2025, the day the Boston Red Sox traded away the latest face of their franchise. If you are a Red Sox fan, it appears that the trade places you firmly in two camps; you are either “What the fuck is this front office thinking?” or “Devers deserved it, his ego had gotten too big.” How did things sour so quickly between February and June?
It’s because this actually dates back to the end of last season. Ken Rosenthal first floated the idea of Devers moving to first last September and trading away Casas, citing the need for a right-handed slugger ala Bregman. And at Craig Breslow’s end of season press conference last year, he was asked about Devers ability to defend at third. Breslow noting at the time that if any changes were to be made with Devers’ positioning, it would be discussed internally first.
“I’ve maintained throughout these questions that any conversation about Devers’ position is going to happen internally far before we’re ready to speak about it publicly.” - Craig Breslow
That quote feels notably important considering per the Section 10 podcast, Breslow doubled down on those comments in November of last year. This episode was just released this morning and it’s incredibly long, but if you’re looking for a comprehensive timeline of this fallout, they lay it out.
I do have some familiarity with Boston, having lived there for four years and during a time when the Patriots dynasty began, but the Red Sox wouldn’t sniff the World Series until the year I left the city. I’m not a Red Sox fan and I have no skin in the game, but I am well aware of Boston’s storied history of hit pieces on star players and managers and the franchise’s ability to spectacularly fumble its greatest talents, with not much to show for it. Out of the gate, I’m already less inclined to side with the front office, especially since the move certainly did not make the Red Sox better in the short term.
By all accounts, there was no evidence that any of this had created a rift within the clubhouse amongst the players**, and Devers was more than performing at the All-Star caliber level he is expected to perform at, especially after Bregman went down with injury. Look, we all bitch when we’re asked to do something at work we don’t wanna do and then ultimately end up doing it anyway. Yeah, our circumstances aren’t so bombastic, much less public, generally speaking.
Especially after this eye-opening article from Joon Lee, it’s become increasingly evident that this wasn’t necessarily about a player’s refusal to do what was best for the team. It was because he no longer trusted the organization nor did he feel the front office had any credibility left in his eyes. At his introductory press conference with the Giants, Devers publicly stated he was ready to play wherever the team needed him to play, and President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey confirmed that Devers would take reps at third and first. You could see his comments as some sort of trolling, but long-time Boston Globe baseball columnist, Pete Abraham, dropped in a tidbit that Devers had also communicated to the Sox front office he was willing to play first, so long as they committed him to that position for the season.*
So was this about a guy who was refusing to be a team player, or him pushing the boundaries to get a front office to either stick to their word or better communicate their plans with him? Ego keeps being thrown around, and rightfully so, as both parties have exhibited it. But clearly, the front office’s was deeply bruised.
The Red Sox have won two games and taken a series against the Mariners since the trade went down. It remains to be seen if this will ultimately impact them long-term. It’ll be especially interesting as the Giants match up against the Red Sox starting tomorrow. A quick turnaround to a reunion five days ago they would’ve never thought coming. This is going to be hashed out and both-sidesed into the postseason, especially, if it’s another year the Sox aren’t in it. That’s why the biggest takeaway from all of this is actually what Craig Breslow does next.
With the trade, San Francisco is taking on the rest of Devers’ contract in full, freeing up $250 million for them to play with. The trade deadline should prove to be interesting if the Red Sox are still in the thick of it come mid-July. Otherwise, Bregman isn’t a guarantee to return having an opt-out in his contract potentially creating a situation where the team finds themselves without both Devers AND Bregman. However guys like Chapmen and Buehler will come off the books (provided they’re not moved before then), and a handful of others like Giolito, Hendriks and Patrick Sandoval coming off in ‘26.
While it wasn’t under his regime, given that the trades for Mookie Betts and Chris Sale were complete failures (Vaughn Grissom has yet to produce and is currently in AAA, and the only other player with the club, C Connor Wong, is currently batting under .200, has 0 RBIs or XBH this season, and lost the starting job to Narváez), letting Eovaldi and Bogaerts walk (which, the latter actually seems like it wasn’t the worst idea), he still has to bear the burden of failed moves past. The return the Red Sox received isn’t as bad as people are making it but given again how all the others have turned out, you can hardly blame their skepticism.
Breslow may say that they’re not waving the white flag, and at the moment the Red Sox are playing good enough baseball that the departure of of Devers may not be missed, but actions speak louder than words. If he sits on his hands and doesn’t make any tangible moves, then this was simply an excuse to salary dump a player because feelings were hurt. And that regardless of who is the GM, this front office remains rudderless. But only he has the power to change that narrative.
Like Lucas Giolito said after a stellar pitching performance on Monday night that secured a Sox win, “Winning solves everything.“
*There’s some speculation that Devers comments indicated that he meant for the long-term even when Casas would return, but as this doesn’t matter anymore in that sense, it was reported that his comments were meant for looking at 2025 and not necessarily beyond.
**I didn’t include the bit about Devers and Campbell because the context is being misrepresented in reports.
I don't have any skin in the game; I'm a Yankees fan, but when Devers played for my local minor league team, there was talk about his attitude, and the one that spoke volumes to me was refusing to sign autographs for kids. Like, I get refusing the autograph hunters, but these kids don't care who you are; they just want to get something signed, and a lot of other big-name players passed through here, and many of them signed a few for the kids.
I'm wondering if it was just a clash of big personalities and, like you said, feelings getting hurt.