Just over a year ago the Boston Red Sox dealt their then-former third baseman in a surprise shakeup. The motivation to trade Rafael Devers to San Franscisco has become abundantly clear in the aftermath of the swap, with the Giants taking on the entirety of his salary and every return piece from that deal now playing for organizations not named Boston.
A year on, the Giants are looking to shop Devers again, and they’re interested in moving a few other expensive pieces of the roster, including Matt Chapman, another third baseman.
Boston’s lineup since saying goodbye to Devers has been hurting for power, and that extends to the hot corner. Caleb Durbin came in during the winter and looked like a potential answer to both the team’s defensive woes and a part-solution to that power outage. He hasn’t been the twofold problem-solver that Sox fans hoped for, however, but his offense is picking up.
As the Sox’s season continues to circle the drain, shifting focus and moving on from some key elements is likely in order. An early trade deadline prediction that fan’s won’t be thrilled to hear involves sending away Willson Contreras, and others on the pitching side including Aroldis Chapman and Sonny Gray may also represent hot commodities that Boston can’t afford to keep long term.
The Sox almost certainly need to be sellers ahead of the deadline, but that doesn’t mean they can’t bring in an interesting piece or two to help provide a new veteran voice in the clubhouse. ESPN’s Jeff Passan has indicated that Chapman may be a good fit in Boston, and that might make more sense than it initially appears.
Matt Chapman could be an interesting addition to Red Sox's quirky roster
The current makeup of the Red Sox roster is all edges and no cohesion. There are too many outfielders on the team, and all but one of them hit left handed. There’s really just a single power bat in the lineup, and too many of Boston’s current starters are realistically quad-A talents. The Giants are shopping many of their more expensive players, and Chapman’s current contract sees him paid roughly $25 million through 2030 his age 37 season.
The Giants may be selling, but can they move their biggest contracts? https://t.co/R7rNKF9FgL
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) June 17, 2026
In contrast, Devers is owed more this year, rising to $28.5 million every season through 2033 (his age 36 campaign). Chapman is currently 33, making his large salary something of a problem, but he has put up 2.8 bWAR already this year through 75 games, batting to a 118 OPS+ with seven home runs. He’s a good defender at third and could allow for a reshuffling of the infield to accommodate Trevor Story’s newest unfortunate injury woes that will see him out for as many as 12 weeks.
The Giants will be motivated to move on from as many large contracts as possible to fully rebuild, so Boston might be able to bring back a better defender at third than Devers for a lower annual cost while giving up relatively little (depending on how motivated to shed payroll San Franscisco might be). He could serve as a crucial veteran presence in a clubhouse that’s surprisingly short on seasoned talent and help bridge the gap between today’s Red Sox roster and one that includes players like Franklin Arias, who is expected in The Show sometime next year.
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