The Rafael Devers trade shocked the baseball world, as the Boston Red Sox gave up on their best hitter and a man who they had given a massive $313.5 million contract. The face of the Red Sox was gone with the snap of a finger, shipped off to the San Francisco Giants.
More interesting was the fact that Devers went to a team with a Gold Glove third baseman, seeing as how the Red Sox' decision to move him to DH had been a major point of contention between him and the front office — along with their subsequent request that he shift to first base to replace the injured Triston Casas.
The trade was projected to be a huge boost to a Giants lineup which had dragged the team down since their hot start. However, that has been far from the case so far. Since joining the Giants, Devers has batted just .225/.344/.363, and his OPS is more than 150 points lower than it had been with the Red Sox. He has struck out 30 times in 93 plate appearances and has hit just two home runs in San Francisco, one of which was against the Red Sox. Moreover, the Giants have a losing record since the trade.
With the Red Sox on the field, Rafael Devers has his first home run with the Giants!
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 21, 2025
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/OYAMnUQtmw
Rafael Devers has struggled in San Francisco since leaving Red Sox
Not only that, but he didn't make the National League All-Star team after ranking first among American League DHs after the first round of voting. While he was never going to unseat Shohei Ohtani for the starting DH role in the NL, it's a surprise that he didn't even make the team.
As if all of that weren't enough, he was scheduled to practice defense at first base with Giants legend Will Clark and blew him off — on three separate occasions. It's safe to say that there hasn't been much of a honeymoon phase between Devers and the Giants.
Of course, it's a long season, so Devers has plenty of time to turn it around in San Francisco. He got off to an extremely sluggish start to the 2025 season, but by the time he was traded, his OPS had climbed above .900. The Giants are very much alive in the NL playoff race and they'll need Devers' bat to be competitive. But the fact that he hasn't been raking in San Francisco might make Red Sox fans miss him just a bit less.