The Rafael Devers trade didn't make much sense when it happened, as the Boston Red Sox effectively salary dumped the face of their franchise for an underwhelming return headlined by top prospect James Tibbs III and former top prospect Kyle Harrison.
Though the logic is easier to see now — the team saved a boatload of money and removed a disgruntled player from the locker room — it's still hard to defend the trade in hindsight. Jordan Hicks completely blew up upon his arrival in Boston, Jose Bello is a 20-year-old in Single-A, Harrison has yet to make any noise with the Red Sox, and Tibbs was traded in a separate deal for Dustin May that was destined to fail.
More problematic, though, is that the Devers deal continued a harrowing Red Sox tradition of recent years: letting fan favorite stars leave on bad terms.
The Mookie Betts trade was so infamously bad that we don't need to address it here. Then, the team let Xander Bogaerts walk out the door in free agency after failing to make him a competitive offer. Even if you think that latter decision has aged well, it's frustrating that the Sox have become so notorious for not treating their superstars with dignity.
Is history about to repeat itself with Alex Bregman?
Red Sox have an ugly recent track record with fan-favorite stars
Now, this discussion needs to be prefaced with the fact that Bregman is not in the same class of Red Sox legends in the way that Betts, Bogaerts, and Devers were. That triumvirate won a championship in Boston in 2018, and all there had accumulated so many memorable moments in a Sox uniform that it's still hard to see them in other jerseys to this day.
Contrast that with Bregman, who played all of one season and 114 games in Beantown, and it's clear that letting him leave wouldn't hit quite as hard.
Still, the star third baseman immediately became a beloved member of the franchise upon his arrival, serving as a mentor to a number of the team's younger players. Unfortunately, as his free-agent market heats up with new suitors emerging on a near-daily basis, it's looking more and more possible that the Sox will lose him.
Remember, the feud with Devers began because the team wanted to accommodate Bregman at third base, thereby displacing the long-tenured slugger. Trading him as a result of that discontent, only to then lose Bregman and open a huge hole at the hot corner, would be a disgrace.
Luckily, the team has jumped out ahead of this problem for the future. Roman Anthony signed an eight-year extension partway through his rookie explosion, and Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Kristian Campbell, and Ceddanne Rafaela have all been locked up on long-term deals as well.
Of course, that didn't save Devers from his ultimate fate, but his monstrous extension was signed under a different front office regime. So long as Craig Breslow is running the show in Boston, it's likely that the core group of extended players won't be going anywhere.
Hopefully, Bregman joins that crew and re-signs in Boston for the long term. Otherwise, it'll be hard not to feel like history has repeated itself yet again.