Rafael Devers Meets With Red Sox Owner John Henry

As the Red Sox began a series with the Royals yesterday, Sox owner John Henry, team CEO Sam Kennedy, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow all flew to Kansas City in response to Rafael Devers’ comments on Thursday about his refusal to play first base, and his displeasure with what the slugger felt was an unreasonable series of requests from upper management.  Henry and manager Alex Cora (with Kennedy and Breslow not present) met with Devers privately prior to Friday’s game for a lengthy meeting that, in theory, helped clear the air about what has become a public controversy.

None of Devers, Henry, or Cora commented about the meeting, but Breslow told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) that Henry said an “honest and candid exchange” took place about the situation.  The intent, as per Breslow, was to have “an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox and that is being great teammates for each other.  And so we think we had a productive conversation.  John seems to have had a productive conversation.  And that’s where things stand right now.”

In a follow-up about what Breslow considered a great teammate, he answered “I think it’s No. 1, being honest and open with communication.  I think it is recognizing when there’s an opportunity to step up, when there’s a need for the group to be in front of any individual achievement or accomplishment.  And I think it’s important that that gets reinforced given what we’re hoping to accomplish.”

Devers said Thursday that he took issue with Breslow recently asking about a position change to first base, and the two parties haven’t yet spoken since Devers went public with his frustrations.  Though Breslow said his conversation with Devers was more “exploratory” in nature about a possible move to first base, the CBO took some responsibility for the awkward situation.

“My reaction was there potentially was some misunderstanding on the communication or an opportunity to more clearly provide communication,” Breslow said.  “And so hopefully that was a step in the right direction here today….Obviously, it’s unfortunate that we’re in the situation that we are right now.  But as you approach every decision, you try to provide as much clear communication as possible. It’s my job to always put the priorities of the organization first.  But I should also be evaluating every interaction I have with players and I’ll continue to do that.”

More will be known if or when Devers himself comments on the meeting, and it isn’t likely that Henry (who rarely speaks with the media) will issue a comment.  As McCaffrey noted, however, the fact that Henry felt the need to personally travel to Kansas City and meet with Devers directly was a very public statement in its own right, and underscored the “unusual” nature of what has become a major subplot of Boston’s season.

After spending his first eight seasons as the Red Sox third baseman, Devers has become a full-time DH this season in order to accommodate Alex Bregman (a much better defensive player) at the hot corner.  Devers has long expressed his preference to remain at third base and even continued this stance after Bregman was signed, though he eventually stated that he was “good to do whatever they want me to do.”  After a slow start at the plate, Devers has been crushing the ball over the last couple of weeks, seemingly settling in nicely to his new designated hitter role.

Triston Casas began the season as the everyday first baseman, but since Casas’ 2025 campaign has now likely been ended by a knee surgery, Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro have been handling the position.  Moving Devers to first base seemed like a possible answer to the first base problem, as opening up the DH spot would’ve also allowed the Red Sox to find a spot for Masataka Yoshida (currently on the injured list) or for top prospects Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer.  After being asked to change positions once, however, Devers has balked at learning a new position on the fly, and was quite openly frustrated over now being asked to become a first baseman after being told that he would only be a DH in 2025.

It remains to be seen what next steps might be taken, or whether or not Friday’s meeting might have laid some groundwork for Devers to eventually move to first base after all.  Given how Breslow mentioned the concept of teammate behavior, it is worth noting that the other Red Sox players seem to be staying quiet about the situation for now.

“We will talk about it.  Obviously, things are fresh and a little emotional right now, but yeah, we will do it,” Trevor Story told MLB.com’s Jackson Stone.  “And like I said, we’re all adults and we’ll figure this thing out eventually.  One way or another, it’s about winning games and I think everyone can agree on that.”