The Giants held a press conference today to introduce Rafael Devers and one key question about his future in San Francisco was answered. The Giants plan to have him serve as the designated hitter but also as a first baseman going forward. He’ll start taking grounders in preparation for the position change in the next few days. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to relay the news.
“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said today, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”
It’s obviously a notable shift from where things stood with the Red Sox. Devers had been almost exclusively a third baseman coming into this year, though he has been considered a poor defender. Over the winter, the Sox were connected in rumors to third basemen like Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman. Members of the Red Sox such as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Álex Cora downplayed the possibility of Devers being moved off the hot corner.
The Sox eventually signed Bregman, but even in the initial wake of that deal, the club didn’t firmly declare that Devers was done as a third baseman. “He’s a Gold Glove third baseman,” Cora said of Bregman in February. “He hasn’t played second base in the big leagues. I do believe he can be a Gold Glove second baseman, too.”
A few days later, Devers spoke to the media and was adamant about not moving. “It’s my decision,” he said at the time. “My position is third base. Whatever it is they want to do is what they want to do. But my position is third base.” He had apparently been promised he could be a long-term third baseman when signing his ten-year extension in 2023, though Cora dismissed that promise. “That was under Chaim,” Cora said, referring to previous CBO Chaim Bloom. The Sox fired Bloom late in 2023 and later hired Breslow to replace him.
As spring training went on, it became clear that the Sox intended to have Bregman at third, with Devers moved to a DH role. While Devers was clearly frustrated and reportedly considered asking for a trade, he eventually relented and accepted his fate. Whatever emotions he was feeling were not impacting his performance, as Devers has hit .272/.401/.504 for a 148 wRC+ this year.
The situation with the Red Sox grew even more complicated in early May when first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury. Devers taking up that spot seemed like a logical next step, as many subpar third basemen have successfully moved across the diamond over the years. Doing so also would have helped the Sox with positional logjams elsewhere. Outfield prospect Roman Anthony has been blocked in Triple-A for most of the season but an open DH spot would have helped the club find more playing time for him and others.
The Sox did indeed ask Devers to consider a move to first base, but Devers refused and also seemed offended that he was even asked. “They talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH,” Devers said of the conversation during spring training. “So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.” He went on to seemingly take a shot at the club’s brass in the process: “Now I think they should do their job essentially and hit the market and look for another player (to play first base). I’m not sure why they want me to be in between the way they have me now.”
The Sox went on to try other options at first, including utility players like Romy González and Abraham Toro. Rookie Kristian Campbell also started some pre-game work at first, though he has yet to appear there in actual game action.
All of this drama seemed to lead to this weekend’s shocking trade which sent Devers to the Giants. Back on May 10th, it was reported that Breslow, owner John Henry and CEO Sam Kennedy all flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and discuss the situation as the Sox played the Royals. In the wake of the trade, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said that he had been discussing the deal with the Sox for three to four weeks. In other words, not long after that Kansas City meeting.
Breslow also spoke to the media yesterday and said that “It’s the willingness to step up and sacrifice at times of need and essentially do whatever is necessary to help the team win,” speaking broadly about successful teams he’d been a part of during his playing days. “I think that’s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we’re looking for.”
Looking at how Devers fit onto the roster in San Francisco raised similar questions to his time in Boston. Matt Chapman is currently on the injured list but is one of the best defensive third basemen in the league and is under contract through 2030. The club’s top prospect is Bryce Eldridge, a first baseman who recently got promoted from Double-A to Triple-A.
Given the standoff in Boston, it was fair to wonder where Devers fit but now there’s an answer. Eldridge will continue playing first base in the minors, per Pavlovic, though Devers will learn the position in the meantime. If Eldridge succeeds as a major leaguer, the two could share the roster for a long time. Devers’ contract goes for eight more years after the current season. Eldridge will be under club control until he accrues six season of service time.
Eldridge might still be the long-term first baseman and Devers the long-term DH, though at least having Devers as a viable player at that position is obviously valuable. It will provide more flexibility if Eldridge ever needs a stint on the injured list during his career, or perhaps doesn’t pan out. As heralded as he is, even the top prospects don’t always succeed when promoted to the majors.
The shift in tone from Devers will naturally lead to questions about why. It’s possible that he bore a grudge against the Sox about the broken promise or perhaps didn’t like the way they went about communicating their plans to him. Perhaps he just wants to start this new opportunity on the right foot, as opposed to kicking it off with another dispute.
That’s all speculative, though that’s all that can really be done unless further reporting sheds more light on the subject or Devers decides to open up about it. “I’m moving forward from the situation in Boston and looking forward to being a San Francisco Giant,” Devers said today, per Cotillo.
In the short term, Devers will presumably need some time to feel comfortable at first, having never played there in his career. The Giants recently moved on from first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. and have been using Dominic Smith there, with Wilmer Flores in the DH spot. Devers is DHing tonight with Smith at first and Flores on the bench, though Flores has first base experience and could factor in there as well. Though Chapman is currently on the IL, the club doesn’t plan to use Devers at third, per Justice delos Santos of Mercury News.
Flores and Smith are both impending free agents. If Eldridge starts thriving in Triple-A, perhaps he gets called up later in the year, with Flores and/or Smith becoming trade candidates prior to the deadline. In the long run, it seems the Giants hope for a Devers/Eldridge duo in the first base/DH mix, though that will naturally depend upon Devers taking to the new position and Eldridge developing.
Meanwhile, Boston fans will be left with the hypotheticals. If playing first base wasn’t really the problem, then was there a way this could have all played out differently? What if the club had asked Devers to play first base back in November, prior to signing Bregman, and given him a full offseason/spring to prepare? What if they held him through this year and then broached the subject again ahead of the 2026 season? Those questions are all moot now as the club once again grapples with a star player leaving Boston for California.
Photos courtesy of Dale Zanine, Gregory Fisher, Jerome Miron, Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images
Eldridge to the OF?
NO WAY. Making I statement I guess. Clearly didn’t like Boston anymore
Cue the Bill Burr comment about Boston from about 15 years ago.
Burr loves Boston, did you mean his complete undressing of Philadelphia?
@gwynning…Nah not that one, it was just a joke he made about Boston on the Green Room w/ Paul Provence. I won’t repeat what he said because the tone won’t come across. I was kind of joking by mentioning it.
My comment was just a tad dated.
Paul Provenza*
Exactly. Breslow treated Devers like dirt. I hope Devers helps the Giants win the division
Yes, and it’s good to see Devers responding well to being treated reasonably, as of course he was always likely to.
I can feel the Red Sox steaming right now.
Nah, you are welcome to him. He’ll be good for you.
More like breathing a sigh of relief.
Ghost – Sam “Mr Burns” Kennedy couldn’t keep the creepy grin off his face during Monday’s Zoom press conference.
Why? He has been working out at 1B for a month for the Red Sox. The Red Sox just no longer needed him to play 1B because Toro and Gonzalez are back and playing extremely well.
He wouldn’t even take grounders. WTF are you talking about?
NOWWWWWWWWWWW, we’re willing to play 1B after making a jerk of himself.
He’s a terrible fielder. Skip the steam.
What surprises me is that Devers did not have a no trade clause in that size of contract.
Devers was literally on the cusp of 10&5 rights. Figured he wouldn’t need it, thinking he wouldn’t get traded in year 2 of the extension. Next season he’d have full no trade rights had he remained in boston
nuke – The Red Sox refused to give him even a partial NTC …. because they never intended to keep him the full 10 years.
Raffy was nothing more than a stopgap until the prized rookies arrived. They had to extend him because they shoved all the other stars out the door by then, except for Sale who was hurt.
Red Sox fans were in open revolt over the Sox business plan of tanking after every successful run.
The Devers signing was in direct response to heavy criticism about how Ownership & the Front Office completely botched the Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts signings as those players signed with LA and San Diego.
Fitting that Devers went to San Francisco.
Next Red Sox free agent to either Seattle or Arizona?!
And how has Bogaerts worked out?
While Bogaerts was overpaid by the Padres the Red Sox never gave him a realistic offer.
Seattle can’t afford a can of beans let alone Boston’s cast offs. Arizona maybe!
How do you know what they offered Bogaerts? If the Padres offer was “reasonable,” then Chaim Bloom did it right for once. Anything less than what the Padres gave is “unreasonable” to most fans, and he ended up being a dud
They deserve it. You don’t deceive an employee, play the “that guy? He’s no longer with the team” garbage, and get anything other than what you deserve.
Devers isn’t a serf, and he did well not to tolerate being lied to then stabbed in the back in the press by the Sox’ FO
Just read the whole thing following my first comment, DH and first base lol. Refused to play there in Boston tho.
He probably refused because he didn’t like the how the team handled the Bregman signing. They probably lied/kept him in the dark about their plans. He may have been more open if he didn’t feel blindsided.
With that, he kinda shoulda offered to allow the team to move him to 1B (granted, by then, he already felt disrespected). At this point, he’s already got his ‘career money’ so he should be less interested in what he wants (go his contract) and maybe do whatever the team asks; as he is doing in SF.
He was told to leave his glove at home so he did.
We don’t know exactly what he was told, or, how his translator altered the adjectives and verbs in translation. I haven’t seen any video of the actual meeting where this happened.
From the press conference, it looks like Devers can understand English very well; he just can’t speak it that well. Maybe I am wrong, but I did not see the translator translating questions, only Devers’ answers.
They probably lied/kept him in the dark about their plans. He may have been more open if he didn’t feel blindsided.
=====================
The Red Sox are not obligated to keep players abreast of their plan. One reason is plans may never come to fruition.
You also don’t want to telegraph your strategy to your opponents.
It is not always about the question, but how the question is asked. It appears the Giants carefully made their request versus what the Red Sox did.
Not worth the money.
You’re right, but he’d get much more if he were a free agent in the off-season
Doubtful, as he’s hardly being underpaid and he’s really only a DH.
Still, 4 WAR players even at DH are hard to come by.
Yeah we got the funniest timeline BY FAR
I for one am shocked how things can be different with the right communication. Wow.
Breslow should hit up Posey for notes.
Or, as a Yankees fan, I say don’t. Along with the Gerrit Cole household, I’m quite happy to see Devers long gone from Boston.
Cole got the best present from the Red Sox on father’s day ha!
How would anyone know what “communication” was different. Sounds like another Red Sox management hater.
Ok, you’re just trolling now. Later.
Not every player is bipolar like devers…
Bad communication makes devers freak out and good communication makes him reasonable
Right communication, or the knowing response to being traded suddenly by the only pro baseball org he’s ever played for, yeah, that’s tomato tomahto obviously!
How many more times do the Red Sox need to run a star player out of town before you realize they are the issue?
Joe – Exactly! This is the umpteenth time the Red Sox have tried to place the blame on a departed player.
And yet you NEVER see this sort of thing with other organizations, which is precisely why Pedro recently praised the Yankees for the way they conduct themselves.
That or he’s just doing it out of spite hahaha
Hilarious! You are naive if you truly believe that. Giants to Devers… we will trade for you and you will do whatever we need done on the field… and you will not vent to the Media with your opinions. Be forever thankful we got you out of Boston. Boston is thrilled to have the full salary relief and the problem child Devers off the payroll. That contract will not age gracefully, give it two years and it will be upside down.
Baseball – He’ll be only 30 in 2 years, and only 36 when the contract expires. Please get informed before insisting things like “contract won’t age gracefully, will be upside down in 2 years”.
I bet 28 teams would choose the Raffy contract over the Vlad contract.
“He doesn’t even like Mexico”
deep cut
Yay! Someone got the reference!
That cold, foggy air in SF is going to bring his numbers down, it will be interesting to see how big the impact is.
How so?
Fenway is a locked-in top 5 park in terms of most offensive factors, and the career splits for Devers reflects that. He’ll likely see a drop in BA, OBP, etc.
There are a lot of parks that would have set him up for a HR boost (Fenway quietly not being a great HR park, further indicated by Devers having a good chunk more road HRs than home HRs in his career), but SF suppresses them even more. So he might have traded some measured for more HRs going to most other parks, but SF might put a hit on him across the board.
redsoxu571, You probably won’t see much of a drop in his BA. Factor in singles for LHHs, and both Fenway and Oracle have a PF of 105. For 2Bs, Fenway has a huge advantage, over every park (24 points better than 2nd place PNC), with a PF of 143, to Oracle’s 97, But Oracle is much better for 3Bs with a PF of 126 to Fenway’s 93.
And if there’s not a big drop in BA, then you probably won’t see one in OBP for obvious reasons. I do expect a slight down turn in HRs. Though Fenway is not as you say much of a HR park, ranking 22nd overall for LHHs, Oracle ranks 27th.
He seemed to be okay hitting in Boston in the early spring
Devers didn’t hit at all until March 15th, more than a month after he arrived at spring training.
I’d be okay dealing with a slow first week of the season if it means the player ends up with a .900 OPS overall
This is off the MLB site, but I found it interesting as to where Devers would rank if he had played in SF the past few years with the Giants:
Giants hard-hit rate leaders (plus Devers), 2015-present
56% // Devers, 2025
55% // Devers, 2023
53% // Devers, 2024
52% // Devers, 2021
52% // Pederson, 2023
52% // Pederson, 2022
51% // Devers, 2022
49% // Devers, 2019
48% // Matt Chapman, 2024
So, I don’t think his HRs will take a huge dip. He might lose some doubles and points off the BA and SLG, but I don’t think it’ll be pronounced.
He muted me over the loss of cable revenue not being a good thing so I can’t respond to him. He didn’t hit until March 15th in spring training. Is that a serious comment?
Devers didn’t not take the field.in a live ST games for mose of the preseason, that is correct. I don’t know the exact date, but it was late.
That’s what a great teammate and clubhouse guy does!
He has been taking infield practice with the Red Sox for nearly a month. He was the worst defensive 3B in the game, so he will mostly DH. Is any of this a surprise?
Giants ownership asking the right way and not the dumb way Boston handles star players
The same words were asked either way ya dope. Devers is apparently a very sensitive gentleman.
So then what’s changed Ghost?
He’s doing out of spite haha
Its not the words its that the Red Sox went and signed Bregman. Once they did that Devers was mad.
Devers arrived at spring training on February 10th overweight and unable to play any position because of injuries to both shoulders. He couldn’t even hit in a game until March 15th, let alone play a position.
The Red Sox signed Bregman partially because Devers was injured and would be unable to start the season at 3B. The other part was that Devers absolutely stunk at playing defense at 3B. Worst in MLB.
Yeah he was so hurt that he hasn’t missed a game all year and has performed great.
Did you black out during the start of the regular season when he struggled mightily? Began 0-for-19 with 4 BBs to 15 Ks, and had a .657 OPS on April 24th. To little surprise, he got going and has been great ever since, but he definitely had to get over the lingering effects of how spring training went for him.
At DH. Do you enjoy being wrong all the time Joel?
He’s having a season that’s better than his career average. Thats his SEASON numbers not some cherry picked numbers like you came up with.
90% of communication is non verbal.
What up dude?
What a dick. Good riddance, loser.
The Giants currently have a better record than the Red Sox…
OK….what does that have to do with Devers being a loser
What does that have do with with Devers being a enormous man baby?
Oh I agree – I’m just saying Giants record has nothing to do with Devers being a turd
Maybe Devers wanted a shot at the post-season?
Mustard,
Which member of Boston ownership/front office are you referring to?
Will take reps at 1st base but
No longer take batting practice!
Watch, Xander bogaerts 2.0
Not even close, sadly. I’d take Devers > Bogaerts ten times out of ten, even if Devers was only DHing.
Lmaoooo
I guess Boston didn’t give him the proper reach around when they asked him.
Describe proper reach around! I am unfamiliar with such activities.
Alexa or Siri can help you with that.
Alexa told me she’d rather not answer that
He should have asked to play SS or 2nd.
If he’s playing 1st or 3rd and does a reach around, there is a coach behind him.
If he’s playing SS or 2nd, he can
reach around himself!
So he cries about playing first in Boston but happily moves forward with it in San Fran? Must’ve just been a damaged ego about Boston bringing in Bregman all along… Who the heck knows? Dumb.
It’s almost like Devers would have done the same in Boston if the front office didn’t repeatedly throw him under the bus and lie to him 😱
Perhaps his ego was damaged by the trade? That’s a very human reason to do an about face like this.
What if the Giants go after a
1st baseman at the trade deadline?
Devers is a piece of crap. I don’t care how good he is. He was asked by the Red Sox to work out at first and he refused. Not a team player. I hope he fails miserable. Good riddance.
Apparently the Giants knew how to request the position change more than the Red Sox did. Glad he left Boston, if he stays good, even better.
Or apparently Devers is a big pouting man baby.
You either don’t know what the word “apparently” means or else you have to brush up on your deductive reasoning skills, because there is nothing apparent about this situation.
You’re angry ✅
You don’t know how to spell raccoon ✅
Ha ha. That’s very good. Well done.
On one hand, I respect the troll. On the other hand, makes me moreso side with the Red Sox on this one: Devers was deliberately being difficult out of spite. Childish behavior.
Yes the Red Sox did act childish on how they treated their star player.
Makes me far more psyched he’s gone. Fat, dumb and petty is no way to go through life,
Isn’t your comment just as petty?
Mets – Ghost is semi quoting/paraphrasing what Dean Wormer said… if you get the reference, you know.
I land in between on this one. I think he’s always been a bit selfish about wanting to stay at 3B, which is why Boston has seemingly always handled the talk about that with care. Understandable, though not the team-first mindset fans prefer to see.
Maybe he cared more than anyone realized and was petulant in even his initial response to being approached to finally make a positional change, or maybe he was approached less than ideally (e.g. too bluntly), but either way it never would have been a problem if he didn’t put his personal positional desires first, right?
It’s rather presumptive to just assume that some of his response isn’t justified (which would keep this from being childish), but somewhere along the way he definitely has his part to blame in this – and it’s possible that the whole blame lies with him, though that too is far too big a leap to fairly presume.
If he cared so much about playing third base he should have been better at it.
No quarter- or, you know, get something in writing….
Any GM would laugh Devers’ agent out of the building if they tried to contractually require him to stay at 3B.
Sure but looking at what cora said, they acknowledge that they made that promise to him but are now saying it’s not valid cuz the old GM got fired. That’s not right or at least not the right way to say it. They spend all off-season telling everyone that he’ll play third and said bregman would play second if they signed him. They sign bregman then all of a sudden they tell devers to stfu and dh. He eventually agrees then they tell him to play 1b. Not that these are outrageous requests given the circumstances, but they’ve been jerking him around for the last 4-5 months and trashing him in the media for a dumb situation that they created with poor communication and lies. It should be expected that he responds in kind.
David Ortiz said Devers still should have put his ego away and done what was best for the team. I’ll take his word for it.
“As a player, sometimes you’ve got to put your ego aside and understand that once you get paid, you’ve got to find a way to do what you’re told.”
nesn.com/2025/06/how-david-ortiz-reacted-after-red…
Noq – Yeah the only thing funnier would be if a team gave him a $300M third baseman contract! Hahahaha!!!!
There’s no such thing as a “third baseman contract.” He got a contract to play baseball.
Noq – Obviously I didn’t mean it literally. The size of the contract was clearly based on the assumption he would play 3B, even Cora said so.
I love this level of petty.
That’s exactly how I took it at first lol….Clearly being next level petty and it’s pretty funny
“Insubordinate…and churlish”
Got to meet Barry Bonds, has a huge smile on his face, and is going to wear Joe Montana’s number. Going to be a fan favorite, and jersey sales are going to be through the roof! #BeatLA
Also: #BeatSnakes and #BeatPriests
Do we have Sox vs Giants series left this year?
This weekend
Yep, starts Friday
in boston tho?
The only thing I regret is that when the Giants play the Red Sox this weekend that it will not be in Boston. I know Red Sox fans will still boo the hell out of him next year in Fenway, but it could have been one of the loudest boos of all time if it happened this week.
Any Sox fan booing him isn’t an actual Sox fan.
Boo the front office for trading another superstar for peanuts.
But no problem with that superstar refusing to do something with Boston, but doing it immediately with his new team?
Nope. Red Sox dug themselves into this hole.
All they had to do was communicate with Devers.
“Hey Raffy, we are adding a great RHB and gold glove winner. He plays 3B. We’d like for you to be the primary DH, and keep your glove ready so we can filter others through the DH spot while keeping your bat in the lineup.”
They lied to him about being the long term 3B. Lied to him about being the full-time DH. Lied to him about not playing defense anymore.
No reason to defend the team when they keep doing this kind of thing.
And no reason to defend a ball player who wasn’t mature enough to keep it in house. And no reason to defend a ball player who refused to do what was best for the team at the time. Both parties blew this one
Joe – to be fair, we weren’t there to know exactly how things were said. We’ve got qualifiers added to things filtered at least twice by interpreters.
If Casas wasn’t hurt, I can guarantee nobody was asking him to try learning 1B mid-season. There’s a difference between being lied to, and, business needs changing due to unforeseeable events. The approaching about 1B, in private, was the latter. And, the team dropped it when Raffy refused. It was Raffy that blew it up with the press, not the front office…
GA – it’s the FO’s job to be prepared for these “unforeseeable events”. They should be planning ahead and constructing a roster in such a way that it can deal with injuries, or that they have the ability to acquire players to fill the holes that come up through the season.
Why not have Devers learn 1B during the off-season, when there’s ample time to do so?
If he’s so bad at defense that the team says he’s not playing defense again, why would they suddenly ask him to play defense again? They should find someone who they think is better defensively.
And just like that Devers smokes one into the gap. Let’s go.
It’s also the ballplayer’s job to be prepared to step up and help the team wherever necessary, regardless of his defensive shortcomings.. More so when you’re paid to be the supposed face of the franchise. “It’s my position”. As selfish as it gets
Joe, there’s reports devers was asked to take 1b reps and refused. Is it accurate? Who knows. We don’t know of everything devers said is accurate either.
Breslow has been working to undo the incredibly unbalanced roster he inherited, that’s for certain. But you can’t just dump everyone and print new money, trades require takers, and, slot of deals were badly underwater where even shipping a guy out wouldntve freed the necessary payroll to bring in the balanced upgrade.
It was so poorly managed at the mlb level it’s going to be a 2-3 year project to get sorted, and, we’re finally seeing some daylight
Makes blanket declaration for how fans need to operate – troll check one.
Blatantly exaggerates about the return in the trade – troll check two.
If it looks like a troll and sounds like a troll!
BoSox fans are going to boo him because that’s their team, and they’re going to support their team even when the team is partially to blame for this; which is their right.
Breslow is an absolutely awful communicator though based on numerous things that have come out, and that is going to hurt that team in the long run. Players aren’t going to want to play there unless it’s an overpay on the contract.
You’re an idiot if you think Sox fans would boo Devers. The fan base is already in an uproar over the trade.
Hitting the treadmill would help, too!
At least he can play at that weight unlike yourself.
Amazing how so many are ready to put the blame solely on Devers. Sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around, but Boston’s front office and ownership deserve their fair share.
“But then, I guess we know there’s blame to share
And none of it seems to matter anymore”
Only blame belongs on Devers.
No. The front office continues to fail at the single most important thing. Leadership.
There is a never ending leadership void.
That’s a ridiculous claim, given how many people are dumping most or all of the blame on the Red Sox.
There is an avenue here in which the Red Sox are an equal partner to blame in this, certainly. But even if then approached this poorly, none of it happens if Devers has the team-first mindset that we celebrate with many players and is fair to expect when a guy gets paid the big bucks.
But there is also an avenue here (and we’ll never know for sure) in which Devers IS entirely to blame. If he’s always been selfish about staying at 3B, that means there was no good way for Boston to approach this, and that also would mean his stubborn initial reaction and then petulant response to considering 1B when Casas got hurt was all of his making.
If we’re left guessing between a mixed bag of blame and primarily/total player blame, yeah, the player should get the greater focus. But it is unfair of anyone to straight up dump all the blame on him.
I was devastated Sunday (and at the game!), but more I read the more I understand it. Still think the contract is a relative bargain in comparison to other mega contracts, but also happy to be out from under it. Mayer-Story-Campbell-Casas infield next year, Duran/Anthony/Abreu outfield (barring trades).
I’m happy with that core, as long as the plan isn’t to string us along the next 3 years and then trade Anthony….
That works if Casas can get healthy and stay healthy.
Arias might be the next infielder coming along? Or Blaze Jordan if he can make good.
That is kinda stupid. $29.2 million AAV for a DH is insane.
Not for SF it isn’t.
The Devers deal is infinitely less risky than both Machado and Bogaerts deals.
No. No its not. Devers is fat. That doesn’t age well. ALL he can do is hit. His defense was the worst in baseball at 3B. He injured both shoulders and that prevented him from even swing a bat until Mid March.
Devers’ deal is less risky in total value than Machado’s, but also far less upside through their early-mid 30s. No one should be defending the Bogaerts deal at this point.
FYI, the contract isn’t a relative bargain. Some have tried to sell that claim, but they’re misrepresenting the value of Devers’s bat to do so.
A good example: the career high OPS+ for Devers in a full season is 142. Juan Soto, meanwhile, has been perceived as having a down year for him…a down year that is still good for a 144 OPS+, better than the career high for Devers. Last year, Soto lapped the Devers best with his 179.
In other words, Devers is a true “elite” bat, but not the “superstar” bat some have tried to assign to him. He’s more a reliable excellent middle-of-the-order guy than a true monster, which is precisely why Soto got paid that much more (we’re talking career 159 OPS+ versus career 129).
That he’s a reliable high-end bat is why it wasn’t crazy to give him that contract. That he’s not a superstar bat AND has negative defensive value is why that contract should have been easily passed by better hitters/players.
I’m glad Devers found his gloves.
It’s moves like this that will get someone into the Trolling HOF
Good work, Raffy. Get in tight with the boys and let’s go !
Early days, but the more snippets I hear about the Eldridge defence, the more I suspect DH might be on the cards.
Or move him back to the OF where he used to play
Ok. Didn’t know that was in his history. Wonder why they didn’t go there from day 1
His footspeed is below average…not good for an outfielder.
I think the kid is going make himself a good 1st baseman. But it’s going to take time and a LOT of reps – especially since he’s both very young and learning the position for the first time as a pro.
From what I’ve heard, he’s confident – and very determined to master the position. I think he will.
He was even worse in the outfield.
Man with the ego is John Henry. It’s not Devers fault Boston has had one playoff appearance since 2018
How is that about anyone’s ego?
Boston missed the playoffs in 2019 despite bringing most everyone back from the 2018 championship. Can’t fault ownership there.
The franchise clearly wanted to rework things, which takes a few seasons, and that led to one ALCS and 3 missed playoffs (a couple of which happened in some all-time-loaded divisions). Ego, or just being willing to pull back temporarily in the hopes that it pays off?
Things were supposed to be on the uptick by 2023, and that that didn’t happen is probably why Bloom was fired. Is it ego to look to a guy to do something and then fire him when that doesn’t seem to be happening?
The team started to form identity and have some players emerge as potential core guys in 2024 in Breslow’s first year, but a number of bad breaks prevented a potential step forward in W-L record. Still not seeing the “ego” here, just a reworked process that hasn’t yet blossomed (and might not) but currently has the franchise stocked with a lot of young talent and a solid overall team and financial flexibility, which could easily be the foundation of the next winner.
It astounds me when players like Devers are clearly a liability on a short sighted mega contract and then some other team just willy nilly takes that player off the hands of the team that made that bad decision in the first place.
8 years left on what is a bloated deal- even with the 10 years and $75M in deferrals….
The only mystery is why fans think it’s a mystery the Giants would take on that contract. Have you followed the Giants history in trying to get a player like that ?
The other point of note is that it ends when he is 36. Not at 40. The deal is fine in general. For the Giants needs, it is positively outstanding.
BULLSEYE!
Right. Most teams would balk at taking on the full contract of an imperfect player who was having a problem with his prior team, but SF has been hunting the big name add for years. Plus, they really really could use the sort of bat with the power to defy the drag of their ballpark. Devers isn’t a slam dunk, but it makes all the sense in the world for SF to take this shot.
And, if Devers is happy an dproducing in SF, then it opens the door to attracting other significant free agent players,
Hockey players dive face first in front of 100 mph slapshots for their teammates and teams.
No sale on the “they didn’t ask him NICELY enough” stuff.
Hockey players wear padding and helmets in an indoor environment.
And it’s played on ice.
Safe to say you missed the point.
“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said today, “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
He learned a lesson or two this spring… finally.
That is because Posey doesn’t put up with any garbage. He is likely to have told him straight up, “we won’t put up with that garbage you pulled in Boston. You will play where we ask you to play or you will hit the restricted list”.
Ha ha. Oh dear. The ignorance. Ummmmm…… that’s not likely at all.
LOL! Yeah bro, that’s not how that works. – Nice story though.
Chandler-I came here to see this. Wish it was the first comment. “I just do what the boss tells me”HAHAHAHAHA
Listen for the sound of Sox fans’ heads exploding
LOL
He can’t field ground balls at third, how is he going to scoop low throws at first ? This is going to be hilarious.
Geez. Let me think. Got it. He’ll work at it until it’s comfortable. If it doesn’t get comfortable after a certain period of time, he won’t play there. Unless you get to there practice, I don’t think you are going to get to laugh.
He can block them like a hockey puck.
@Astros_fan_in_Aus
Devers might well have thought the very same thing.
Its not inconceivable to me though, that with enough practice, a guy who struggles at the hot corner could learn to scoop throws to 1st base.
Plenty of bad defensive 3Bs move across the diamond to be decent 1Bs. It’s not uncommon.
Devers may mess up his shoulders again by diving for ground balls.
This is so goddamned funny.
“Play first for us, please, Casas’ leg exploded.”
“Get rekt.”
“Play first for the Giants?”
“OK”
Pretty clear Boston had to move him, the relationship was completely poisoned.
I hope he plays 1b vs Boston Friday and one of his former teammates punches him in the face at his new position.
I hope that happens as well, and the lack of discipline or direction in Boston is further on display as one of their players is arrested and booked on assault charges. It’s clear that Boston is not the place to sign a FA contract.
That might happen..and you seem to not know much about free agents..they like big markets and always take the money…well except SF.but yeah sure lol charge someone with assault for a baseball fight ..lol you are a joke for going there
Punching somebody in the face at 1B is not a “baseball fight”. That is assault. The joke was you suggesting that would be in any way justifiable.
Nothing a couple fastballs in the back won’t take care of over the weekend. Just keep the ball below the head, take the ejection and win a couple games BoSox.
That would be pretty telling. Nothing says good riddance like drilling a guy in the ribs. If he was playing first someone could slide into first and cleat him. Ty Cobb style.
Red Sox Devers: “I am here to play 3rd, I don’t want to play 1st, I don’t want to DH. This org screwed me over, I signed to play 3rd etc etc
Giants Devers: I am willing to play wherever they need me, it doesn’t matter to me at all. I will give 100% wherever
lol
Red Sox : We need to sign you to the largest contract extension in Team history before you become a free agent.
Devers : I like to hear that, but I wanna play 3rd base.
Red Sox : Yeah dude, totally. Anything you want. You’re our future. You’re on a HOF track, and after Mookie…well, anything you want. Just don’t become a Free Agent, spend your whole career with us!
Devers : Heck yeah! (Signs extension)
(Red Sox start looking for 3rd basemen in 2year of extension.)
Devers : We good fellas? Need me to practice 1st base?
Red Sox : No! What?! You’re our 3rd baseman. Bregman gonna play 2nd base. Our word is gold, trust us.
Spring Training
Red Sox : Just kidding, no 3rd or 1st, just DH.
Devers : Bro, you’ve had every chance to work with me, your top paid player in Franchise history, and now not playing in the field at all??
Red Sox : Hey, you act like you have a choice. Contract baby. Shut up and Red Sox, baby.
Devers : Okay…I got ya’. Cool cool. Appreciate that.
Red Sox : Umm….about 1st base.
Devers : oh yeah?! Want me to wear a tu-tu also??
Red Sox : We paid you 300 million, so, actually, yeah, the tu-tu is a nice touch. Now you get it sucka!
Devers : ….
Well played!
You really have to go deep into the comments to find the gems.
I think the worse thing about Devers is that he chews tobacco. When will they ban that crap in the dugout or on the field? It’s gross and causes cancer. Plus, I am surprised MLB ownership hasn’t banned it in the dugout, too. It doesn’t look good for the game (as they seem to be focused on the games “image” nowadays). I should also list his postives to keep it fair: he plays sterling defense at third base and has led the league there in errors since 2018. 🙂
Mom I told you to stay off the baseball message boards you’re embarrassing me.
ChickenMan/WadeBoggs: When are you going to finally clean your room? Do you need grounded?
Aw Mooooooooom!
They did ban it in 2016 or 2017 for new players. Existing players are allowed to still chew though as long as they were already in the league by 2016.
That being said, I highly HIGHLY doubt it’s ever enforced mom
So Breslow and Cora were supposed to kiss his a** but Posey and Melvin are “the men in charge”? Good riddance…
Honestly, 31m a year for 10 years, you just play along. Look at Trout and Baez moving positions, made themselves look good in front of their teammates.
I’m late on this whole thing, but LMAO. SF made a great pickup. The Sox do get a lot of financial flexibility back, but that means very little in 2025.
Also, why didn’t Boston trade him in 2023? I know people will say Betts, different PBO, etc., but he’s still functionally the same player he was back then. It speaks to a lack of organizational vision from ownership. They seemed scared to wear the black eye again when trading another homegrown star away, but they weren’t that high on him, either. Strange dealings.
You’d like to think his reasoning for now being open to 1B is that he’s been humbled by the trade. But it’s much more likely that he’s continuing to be a petulant child and spiting the Red Sox by doing so.
Either way, not Boston’s problem anymore. Hopefully they use the savings wisely.
Good point; everything he’s done thus far points to being a petulant child who hasn’t emotionally matured, with bad character makeup and low IQ.
“Devers was insulted that Campbell volunteered to step up and do that work, “interpreting it as a slight to his own stature”
That says it all. Fragile ego prima donna, but he knew he was in the wrong.
Along with the reports that the youngsters couldn’t approach him for advice/help/support, Sox had no choice but to dump him. Man, the Sox screwed up this whole Betts/Bogaerts/Devers situation.
Personally, I hope Devers crashes and burns.
This is the one item that made him look like a jackass. I get him feeling jerked around by the team, but you don’t get to play the solidarity card when holding out, and it’s especially rude to do it to a young rookie.
Yeah this snippet destroys any possible sympathy one could have for Devers if true. Your job is to WIN GAMES and you expect other players to deliberately hold out of playing a needed position out of solidarity to your ego? That’s next level diva behavior.
I still sympathize with him for the slowplay and backpedaling from Boston management, but I’m not about letting that spill over toward your teammates.
Boston handled the situation poorly but the fact that there was a situation in the first place still falls on Devers. As soon as he signed that contract he should have happily volunteered to move across the diamond.
I disagree. If the PBO promises him a position at the time, that’s on the PBO, or in this case, the rest of the ownership/leadership, for not properly managing expectations. It feels like lip service when barely into Y2 of the extension, they pull the rug on the guy. They sign a 3B, assure him it’s nothing (“he’ll play 2B”), tell him he sucks at 3B (valid baseball decision, btw, just conveyed terribly) and the rest of the field so now you’re full-time DH, and uh, whoops, the 1B just went down, can you take the field now (“forget what we just said”)! Just unbelievably bad messaging sent from the top. Why not shift him to 1B and bump Casas to DH initially? There were so many better ways to handle this.
My point is, it’s a promise he had no business asking for. He plays some of the worst defense in the league at one of the most important positions on the diamond. Position changes are a part of baseball, bad defensive 3Bs get moved across the diamond all the time. His resistance to the change was justifiable when it could have affected his earning power, as 3Bs get paid better. But once he signed that contract the only thing stopping from immediately making the team better by moving was his ego.
To answer your question… Casas knew and was established at 1B. Devers had never touched it.
Why would you bump the experienced guy for an unknown quantity except to massage an ego? (Which, shouldn’t be the focus when dealing with constructing a lineup.)
Also true…. though it would have also given them the flexibility to shop Casas for pitching which they need desperately. He would have been a valuable trade asset before the injury.
They shopped Casas without having made the move. They couldn’t get a taker they wanted, closest was SEA offering Castillo for him, at which point breslow wanted to include yoshida due to the lower quality return.
Then it fell apart.
Their bargaining position would actually be *weaker* when Casas had less fit.
Casas is a 2 win guy over 900 PAs in 4 seasons. He’s a worthwhile bat to keep around, but if DHing him keeps Devers happy, I would live with whatever runs I lose at 1B (and Casas isn’t a good defensive 1B).
Boston flubbed this by not negotiating in good faith. If they had been upfront with their plans for Bregman from the get-go, maybe they could’ve salvaged this. Maybe they just wanted to get out from under the contract? You would know better than me.
For all we know, it was a handhake agreement for the negotiated terms. You obviously can’t stipulate a position/refusal to change positions contractually, but maybe something like that greases the wheel in a small way (AAV/deferrals amount). It wouldn’t be enforceable, but Devers probably thought he deserved to be treated better after being in the org for over a decade.
You can look at the whole position change in SF being spiteful, but maybe he would’ve done it in Boston if management communicated its intentions upfront. They peed on his leg and told him it was raining w.r.t. Bregman signing.
They improved one of the team’s biggest weaknesses with the Bregman signing. If Devers cared so much about playing third base, he should have been better at it.
L, as they say, OL.
“They’re the guys in charge” I’ll play wherever is needed. Wow I guess that attitude changed when he hit California lol
He’s just being petty lol
It’s the bright sun and blue skies.
When you’re the worst defensive third baseman in the ML and a team signs the best – you move. His ego didn’t allow it. Take a look in the mirror my man. You’re not good over there.
“I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”
What a team-first guy, that Devers. (cough,cough).
Yet when the Sox signed him to a massive extension….did they ever bring up that they might want him to move to DH or 1b or didn’t value his defense at 3rd……..no…but Dever is the bad guy here….
Rocky, didn’t know you sat in on the meetings between the sox and devers agent. What else did you see firsthand?
Rocky they don’t have to bring it up when they pay him millions of dollars. That’s how teams work in all team sports. You do what’s best for the team. His defense sucks he should move. Everyone knows that end of story. If he was good defensively, he would have an argument, but he’s not so he has no argument. Not when you make hundreds of millions of dollars
What a jerk. Glad the Sox got rid of him and somehow managed to not only dump the entire contract buy got more then magic beans in return.
Sox will take the $20 mil or so saved(less the contracts coming back) and lock up one or two of the young guys for a few years or reach out and grab some more pitching.
His xwSPITE is 100th percentile!
My biggest takeaway- Breslow seems like he has the charisma of a saltine
Is Devers the Jimmy Butler of the MLB?
Red sox fans crying
Another completely botched player relationship by the Red Sox Ownership.
The Red Sox Devers royal screw up has John Henry, Sam Kennedy and Alex Cora written all over it.
Memo to Red Sox Ownership,(John Henry) Front Office(Sam Kennedy) and Manager (Alex Cora)
You cannot blame: Theo Epstein, Ben Cherrington, Dave Dombrowski, Mike Hazen, Chaim Bloom etc…for this major mismanagement of and alienation OF ANOTHER Red Sox star player etc…
Bad player relations and ham handed handling of player relationships seem to be the ‘MO” for the Red Sox ballclub.
But, the backbiting and passing the buck on Devers has already started with Alex Cora openly trying to blame Chaim Bloom instead of taking some responsibility for what has happened.
Next up, the Red Sox Media and PR machine will try to make Craig Breslow the next Red Sox scapegoat?!
Too Much drama in Boston.
Free agents will look at this and not be putting the Red Sox at the top of their lists for long term free agent signings and career destinations,
Management handled this badly, but so did Devers. Both things can be true.
It’s pretty much what David Ortiz said and he didn’t mince his words even though he owns fractional shares of the Red Sox. He even called out his buddy ARod.
Clown. Lazy one at that
“I think that’s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we’re looking for.”
Perhaps breslow and the rest of the front office should lead by example. I would call his tenure thus far hardly relentless.
Phillies owner John Middleton expressed gratitude for the Boston Red Sox firing Dave Dombrowski, stating it led to Dombrowski joining the Phillies and ultimately contributing to their success. Middleton was puzzled by the Red Sox’s decision to let go of Dombrowski, especially after he led them to a World Series title. He specifically mentioned that he needed to reassure Dombrowski that he wouldn’t be treated similarly in Philadelphia
That is the Red Sox known “MO”.
Mistreat valuable/key employees.
Damage the relationship.
Force a resolution (Trade, Firing, Requesting Trades, Walking away from Red Sox etc…).
Then, Scapegoat, Trash, Blame the vicitims of the mistreatment by the Red Sox.
Rinse, Repeat etc…
“Mistreat valuable/key employees”
Yes, my heartaches for $300 million dollar ball players when they complain about being mistreated and lied to. Grow up
Money is only part of the equation. It is also about the relationships, the teamwork, the pride in working towards a mutual goal and more. It is built on trust, integrity, mutual interests. If the player finds out that you lied and then have an organized media campaign to blame the player for all the problems and drama, then it is not unreasonable for the player to feel betrayed, pissed off and not want to continue with that org.
I sense a hint of jealousy from you, andymeyer.
Stop projecting
I love seeing dumb Philly fans call Dombrowski Dumbrowski and complain about having one of the best GMs in baseball leading a winning organization sustainably for years. At least Dodgers fans know they have a gem in Friedman.
“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said today, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”
Lol. He’s trolling the Red Sox now. That’s pretty funny.
I think RS fans are going to end up being very happy with the return on this trade…even though it may a year or two to get there.
What you have is a story about compliance. The Red Sox were paying the big bucks and they expected a team player who will do whatever they ask for the good of the team. Had he done that he would still be in Boston. He’s lucky that he had a big contract otherwise he might be Colorado or Miami. If he had any options left he should have been sent down for an attitude adjustment. Time will tell how this deal works out but I expect the Giants to regret it at some point.
Red Sox: here’s $300M
Devers: I just don’t see myself as a leader.
Red Sox: uh oh …
WIN !!!!!!!
That’s ironic.
Devers is a flat out scumbag. Gary Sheffield version 2.0. No desire to be a team player
Yeah. As a Sox fan, he’s my new least favorite player in the league. He may have single handedly crushed our shot for at least this year with his selfishness and immaturity. There is plenty of blame to go around for the entire mess, but there is no doubt that a lot of it is on him.
Funny that he was the face of the franchise and widely popular with the team and the fans until ownership, the front office and the team oriented media started trashing him and totally changed the terms of his employment that motivated him to sign the big contract.
He could have gone free agency and signed anywhere for the same or more $$$$
I told y’all buster and devers had the night of their lives.
This is pure gold but he has to accept it yes.
You might not like Devers
But understanding him
Only the real ones get that
“What in God’s holy name are you blathering about?” – Mr. Lebowski
Now fatty McGee is willing to? lol
Your mom is willing to what?
I never look at fielding stats so when I finally saw and read that Devers has led AL in errors every year of his career, I was shocked. I actually thought he was good defender. Not great, just like good or average at 3B.
If Red Sox’s new future core and this group of Giants can bring home a couple WS rings through 2032, it will be rare good trade for both sides.
This had it irk bahstun fans so I love it.
I’m willing to bet Posey talked to him like a man. Looked him in the eye, talked about learning first base, and assured him they’d help him not just trot him out there.
If you’re a Red Sox fan, I have no idea how this information doesn’t tarnish your view of Devers forever. Suddenly acting like a loyal soldier willing to suit up at first base isn’t some kind of retroactive “own” against ownership or against Craig Breslow, who have now succeeded in recouping a misplaced investment in Devers and (if the last decade of Red Sox baseball is any indication) couldn’t care less about the negative PR. The only people it twists the knife into are a) Boston fans and b) Devers’ former teammates. Mercurial, holier-than-thou BS at its finest.
For my own petulant part, I now feel confident in saying that I profoundly dislike him, and I hope his career ends in ignominy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . No ill will towards the Giants, though, y’all were robbed in ’21 and it would be awesome if you toppled the Dodgers and the Padres.
I can’t up ote this because of the last sentence.
I don’t disagree with you but people used to say that about Machado and Harper and now they’re beloved. People can change and mature. Red Sox were hoping that he grew into a leader but he has no desire to be one. Not everyone wants to be that guy and that’s ok. Perhaps this was Devers’ wake-up call.
@Yankees, that’s a fair point. I will say though that even at the height of their status as baseball divas I have a hard time imagining either Machado or Harper pulling a stunt quite like this one. Machado willingly bounced around between positions a few times throughout his career even when he was the sport’s #1 villain. But maybe Barry Bonds will talk some sense into him.
Can’t make this stuff up
Cyndi Lauper song it best( and only I think) “I see your true colors shining through “….. Conversation in KC….Henry.. “Raffy there is no I in team”… Raffy… “ yes but there is a ‘ME’….
“They’re the men in charge,. I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.” Talk about spitting in Boston’s face and burning bridges. Loser.
“They’re the men in charge”. Where was this attitude in Boston? He’s still at first base
I wouldn’t be surprised if Devers gives them issues later onlike he did the Sox… he’s just very immature and has a low baseball IQ other than being a big hitter.
Hopefully, this has been a maturation process for him and the Giants beat the Dodgers.
I would apreciate your comment more but I am a Red Sox fan, so it doesn’t really apply.
I wonder if he’s on the spectrum. Autistic folks sometimes have a hard time dealing with change.
@TroyVan
I guess that applies to the American electorate? Each side can’t seem to get over change.
Hopefully this will be a maturation process for Red Sox fans, very low baseball IQ other than having an incredible stadium.
And 4 WS Championships in 21 century….
Gotta be impressed by this player’s willingness to do what’s best for the team by trying a new position.
This is the baseball equivalent of of the girl who hits the gym after someone breaks up with her for not hitting the gym
Guy’s on a baseball team. He should be playing every single position if he’s actually a professional athlete. Shouldn’t be making such large sums of money if you’re only able to play one position. I’d like to see Devers work on pitching and catching as well.
In his spare time I’d like to see him study to assist the team physician. At the least he should be preparing to lend a hand with the Giants Espanol radio broadcasts.
For $300M he should be using his bat to hit more than baseballs. He should be bashing Ulner ligaments back into place to help the pitching staff. He could be knocking hot dogs and t-shirts into the stands. No need for a cannon when you have Raffy making that money. When he is done with that he can just look around for any loose nails and give them a few taps.
Derek Jeter says hi
Red Sox should have started that in Spring Training
From this day forward I will be a model citizen.
That quote from Devers is hilarious.
Sounds like his agent told him exactly what to say this time lol. Predictable but still very funny.
Devers acts like one of those toxic females
Hahhahhahahhaahahah… That is pretty funny.
All they had to do was ask nicely
the whole devers/boston FO position switch standoff reminds me of office space where lumbergh keeps making milton move his desk
2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
l can’t tell if everyone is going to boo him when he comes back to Fenway.
Good luck to Devers. SF needs a major spark. Too many players have low batting averages that mean an easy unproductive out. Adamas, .207. Baily .193. Koss, ..217. The list goes on and on. Would be nice to see SF start winning and make a run for first place and the playoffs. And, that will help full up the stands too. As a Giant fan for some 70 years, I never get tired of seeing an exciting season.
Of course he’s willing to work out at 1b. of course.
I’m just here for Red Sox fans getting all salty.
And let me save you the trouble. Yes, I know the Cincinnati Reds suck. (Although we didn’t in 1975. And I think you would like our manager.)