Boston Red Sox fans woke up on June 16 and realized that the Rafael Devers trade wasn't just a nightmare. Hours before Robert Murray's Tweet that changed Red Sox history, Devers hit his 31st and final home run against the Yankees, something Boston fans imagined they'd watch for another decade.
Devers was on the team plane to travel for its impending West Coast road trip one minute, and in an Uber alone back to Fenway Park the next. Red Sox management shopped the star in secret, blindsiding fans across MLB in the process.
Red Sox fans are furious, as they should be. It seems no superstar can leave Boston on good terms, from Nomar Garciaparra to Manny Ramirez to Mookie Betts. There's only one common denominator — the men in the front office.
The Devers trade is a failure on so many fronts, but mostly because management couldn't have handled the drama worse. Here are all the ways it should've gone differently.
4 reasons why Rafael Devers trade is a complete failure by Red Sox leadership
Rafael Devers did not need to be traded
Let's get this one out of the way first: Red Sox management could've kept Devers in Boston with no issue. The Red Sox didn't need a first baseman after the emergence of Abraham Toro, who's been everything they could have needed and more. Toro is slashing .317/.340/.545 in 29 games, with a few great defensive plays on his stat sheet, as well.
Devers also did the job the Red Sox asked of him. He moved to the designated hitter role, not without drama, and his performance should have taken some heat off him. Devers slashed .272/.401/.504 over the first 73 games of the season. He got on base at a higher clip than he ever has in his nine-year career and led the American League with 56 walks. Devers' .905 OPS should have bought him more leeway than it did.
There's no way for fans to know the entirety of what went on behind the scenes. The Devers drama could've affected the clubhouse more than the players let on (and the Red Sox will surely try to frame it that way) but there had to be a better way to fix it than trading the face of the franchise and last remaining player from the 2018 team, to whom the organization made a 10-year commitment.
The Red Sox are not a better team without Rafael Devers
Management is going to spin the trade like somehow it makes the team better or "more athletic." Don't listen to them.
There's an argument for Devers being the Red Sox's best player, especially while Alex Bregman is on the injured list. When he was able to focus entirely on hitting as the team's DH, he fixed many of the flaws that used to exist in his offensive game. His walk rate ranks in the 99th percentile, up from 85th in 2024, and his chase rate is up to the 73rd percentile after ranking 35th last year.
The front office will also say the trade makes the lineup and payroll more flexible. Financial flexibility doesn't mean a thing if the front office won't spend the money this offseason, which seems highly unlikely given last year's moves — even after committing $700 million to sign Juan Soto, it still took until spring training for management to cough up the money to sign Bregman.
Boston's lineup is desperate for length and power, and Devers offered both. The team was on the up-and-up after three straight series wins and a sweep of the Yankees, and the front office may have thrown the season away in an attempt to erase a problem it created itself.
The return
The real return in the Devers trade is the Giants taking on his entire salary, which could be all the Red Sox wanted in the first place, given John Henry's miserly tendencies. Even so, the players Boston got back are underwhelming.
The Red Sox got pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks as the centerpieces of the deal. Harrison has a 4.56 ERA with 25 strikeouts and nine walks over 23.2 innings. He was optioned to Triple-A and won't be helping the big league team right away. Hicks hsa pitched to a 6.47 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 20 walks over 48.2 innings. Both pitchers have made starts and appeared out of the bullpen.
Boston also received James Tibbs and Jose Bello, an outfielder and pitcher, respectively. Tibbs, 22, is slashing .246/.379/.478 through 57 games in High-A this season. The Giants drafted him with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, one pick after the Red Sox chose Braden Montgomery, who was traded to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet. Yes, the Red Sox got a player they passed over in exchange for the face of their franchise. Bello has posted a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings in rookie ball.
Again, the Giants will pay Devers' entire salary, which is huge for the front office, but this return is a gut punch to fans. All Boston needed to be truly competitive this season was another frontline starting pitcher, and it couldn't even get that for its best player. The Red Sox are a worse team for trading Devers and getting no immediate major league help to compensate for the loss.
Red Sox management treated Rafael Devers like garbage
Devers holds his fair share of blame here. As an employee of the Red Sox, he should've wanted to change positions or do things that would make him uncomfortable to make the team better. But he was only matching the energy he got from the front office.
Devers signed a 10-year deal with Boston under the impression that he would be the third baseman for at least a few more years afterward. No matter what showed on the field, he was clearly proud of his defensive improvements, and Craig Breslow is blind for not seeing it.
There's no excuse for the repeated lies to Devers about the team's offseason plans. Devers was told that the Red Sox were not coveting third basemen after they lost out on Soto to the Mets, when, in reality, that was their only plan. Why was Breslow, a chief baseball officer with no prior experience in the role, allowed to treat Devers the way he did? How is lying to the Red Sox's most important and longest tenured star being "a team player," as Breslow demands of everyone in the clubhouse? Why didn't Henry or Alex Cora step in? If they did, and nothing changed, why was firing Breslow out of the question?
The hypocrisy in the Red Sox's front office is astounding and shouldn't be easily forgiven. Trading the club's best player after a dispute that began at the hands of the front office is hardly a commitment to winning, and the Red Sox are a worse team because of it.