The Boston Red Sox and Rafael Devers avoid arbitration
The arbitration deadline has come and gone with the Boston Red Sox walking away with a massive steal for the organization. Third baseman Rafael Devers was entering his first offseason of arbitration eligibility this winter and it was thought that the two sides weren’t going to see eye to eye on the money. That all changed though as it was just reported that the young infielder and Boston agreed to terms for the 2021 season.
Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Devers and the Red Sox agreed to a one-year/$4.575M contract for the upcoming season. You may be asking why it’s being considered a steal for the team but all you have to do is look at this third baseman’s numbers. He was a force to be reckoned with in his last two campaigns despite 2020 being a bit down from his 2019 efforts.
The Red Sox and Rafael Devers settle at $4.575 million, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 15, 2021
Raffy posted an insane .311/.361/.555/.916 line in 2019 where he also joined the “50/30 Club,” alongside Xander Bogaerts. He also led the American League with 54 doubles and finished the year with a total of 15 RBI. That’s pretty damn good for a guy that was in just his third year in the league and was only 22-years-old.
He’d follow that breakout effort with a bit of a down year in 2020, like much of the league, where he finished at a .263/.310/.483/.793 line with 11 homers and 43 RBI. Devers started the campaign slowly but once he got things dialed in he was one of the more dangerous hitters in the league in the final stretch of the year.
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One thing that he has working against him is the fact that he’s an error machine. Hell, he led the team in E’s this year and likely will again in 2021. He’s a young player that tends to get ahead of himself while making defensive decisions. With Alex Cora back in the manager’s chair, I expect that number to begin decreasing as the skipper will look to work with his talented third baseman.
The salary for 2021 is a massive pay raise for Devers as well as he only earned $256K this past year due to the COVID altered salaries. Many believed that he’d pass on a deal and would head to the negotiating table, myself included. Even with his poor defensive output what he can do in the batter’s box is more than worthy of a chance at the table.
No matter which way you slice it this is a big win for the Red Sox as they’re looking to keep their spending to an absolute minimum this winter. Getting Raffy on the hook for less than $5M will allow them to look at other options on the free-agent market to beef up the rest of the roster. This will also give the two sides a better opportunity to talk about a long-term deal without the contention that an arbitration hearing could create. I, for one, can’t wait to see what Devers does in 2021 and what he can do with his mentor back in the clubhouse.