It is hard to separate fact from fiction in the Boston Red Sox's divorce from Rafael Devers. We know that there was clearly some miscommunication between the two sides leading to hurt feelings all around.
Once Boston's desire to move Devers to another position again became public, things spiraled from there, leading to Devers getting traded to the Giants. We may never get the full story as to what happened with Devers, but we are starting to get a much better idea as to the fallout from that saga.
Since getting moved out west, Devers has struggled to replicate his success with the Red Sox. In 60 games with San Francisco, Devers is slashing just .226/.335/.407 with 10 homers. While the power and ability to draw walks has remained, that batting average is ugly no matter how you look at it.
The picture gets even uglier when you look at how the teams that Devers has played for this season have performed. Not only have the Giants been MLB's worst team since trading for Devers, but if you combine the pre-trade 2025 Red Sox with the post-trade 2025 Giants, you have one of the worst teams in baseball.
MLB teams are 59-73 when Rafael Devers plays for them this year. Only 4 teams have a lower winning percentage https://t.co/H4WPrsbcOD
— Ethan Fisher (@efisher330) August 26, 2025
Rafael Devers appears to be some sort of curse for whichever team he plays on this year
In fairness to Devers, both the early 2025 Red Sox and the current Giants have problems beyond his performance or lack thereof. Boston had yet to fully call upon their Big Three prospects and Kristian Campbell flopped in his first look at the majors. As for the Giants, Devers certainly hasn't played well, but no one on that team can hit this year, including guys who are usually studs in Willy Adames and Matt Chapman.
Still, it is weird that in two stops this year for Devers, both teams could not seem to get going. It is extremely possible it is a coincidence, but perhaps the Red Sox's front office was on to something when they said they thought their team would be better after the trade. Peeking behind the clubhouse doors will almost certainly not happen, but it is possible that Devers isn't helping much with locker room chemistry at minimum, which can (and does) matter.
No one should be taking the Red Sox's side just because of wins and losses from a single season. Boston clearly wanted the payroll relief and San Francisco is a much better team on paper than they have shown. Given Devers' track record of hitting, it feels like this season is going to be more of a speed bump than the start of his steep decline. At the end of the day, both sides are to blame for how things went down.
However, that doesn't mean that things didn't work out for the Red Sox in the end.