photo credit: CNN

In January 11, 2023, The Boston Red Sox and then third baseman Rafael Devers came to an agreement on a 10-year, $313.5 million dollar contract. The idea in the minds of many was that Devers was going to be the face of the franchise going forward after moving on from superstars Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts in seasons prior.

Rafael Devers since signing his contract has remained one of the best hitters in the game with a slash line of .271/.351/.500 with 33 Homeruns in 2023 and achieved career best in triples (5), walks (67), and walk rate (11.1%), and led the Red Sox in RBIs with 83 in 2024. On the other side of things, he also led the A.L in errors at third base for the sixth straight year. Safe to say that there has been a decline on the defensive side. Que in the signing of former Astro third baseman Alex Bregman who came in on a three-year, $120 million contract with the Red Sox during the latter part of the offseason.

Entering the 2025 season there was buzz around the news of Bregman’s signing and how that would impact the Red Sox roster, with prospects Roman Anthony and Marcello Mayer’s Major League debut in the horizon of the incoming season. One could only stop and ask the question “What would the Red Sox do when their time came?” Certainly, the chaos created between the media frenzy in Boston and the words of Rafael Devers didn’t help in offering up any solutions for the questions we would soon have to answer.

After expressing his disapproval in making any position changes from third base into a DH role, Devers seemed to eventually settle into the idea. His season had a shaky start posting a .272/.401/.502 and a historic number of strikeouts becoming the first to strike out at least 12 times in the first 4 games of the season. He would eventually bounce back and erase any concerns about his performance, and with that any echo’s from the media about his flexibility and availability. That is until first baseman Triston suffered a season ending injury May 2^nd,2025. He ruptured his left patellar tendon while running to first base against the Minnesota Twins.

Leaving a sizable void in the Red Sox defense, questions arose as to who would be called up to fill in or who would change positions temporarily. Guys like Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro have stepped in to fill that gap since the injury, but in the midst of that reports were swirling that the Red Sox front office had approached Devers about making an adjustment to play at first. To no surprise Devers remained unavailable to make the transition despite it being one of the best possible short-term solutions for the team.

Rafael Devers has continued to dominate in the DH role, and after a rough month of May for the club, June had gotten of to a great start with the Red Sox winning a three-game set in the Bronx vs the Yankees, and the media reminding the fanbase on both sides of Devers dominance of the Yankees over the course of his career. They took the series in Tampa against the Rays, showing promise that they were climbing out of the rough patch they were in and putting last month in the rear-view mirror. Then this weekend happened, another three game set between the Yankees and the Red Sox. A series in which it meant more for Boston than it did the Yankees. Boston came out sweeping, and Devers was right in the middle of that action particularly in the final game of the series when He hit a homerun to make the game 2-0 in the sixth inning, which was also his 500^th extra-base hit.

Little did we know that after that series sweep, only hours later he would be traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for LHP Kyle Harrison, RHP Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League right-hander Jose Bello. Just like that the last standing player from the 2018 world series was gone. Shocking is the common word being thrown around right now. I’m watching all sorts of podcasts reacting to the news. I am even seeing other fan bases reacting to the news. Literally came out of nowhere.

However, we really do have to ask ourselves “Did it really come out of nowhere?” Given the way the season started, with all the attention on Devers and Bregman, “who’s going to play where”. The availability or the lack thereof, one has to wonder how long the front office was sitting on the possibility of trading Devers.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that for some of the fanbase this has the same sting the Mookie Betts trade had back in 2020. From a fans perspective it’s easy to see this and be frustrated, but I can guarantee you there is a plan in place. The relationship between Devers and the Red Sox was spiraling to an end. We knew it was coming but we didn’t want to accept it. In the end we have a young and healthy club that has a bright future. We still have solid leadership in Alex Bregman and Trevor Story whom both have had long careers in the majors. I look forward to how things shape up for us despite the huge loss.