After they swept the New York Yankees on June 15, the Boston Red Sox were riding high. Then, that Tweet from Robert Murray felt like a kick in the stomach.
It felt almost unthinkable that the Red Sox could trade Rafael Devers. He was the face of the franchise, even if he didn't want to be, and the last remaining player from the 2018 World Series-winning team, the winningest Red Sox squad there ever was. But, in the middle of the best offensive season of his career, they did it.
Just as Boston's "Big Three" prospects reached the big leagues, and after three-straight series wins when the seriously underwhelming 2025 Red Sox were beginning to find their footing, they traded their best hitter across the country in a prophecy fans have seen before.
People are furious, and have every right to be.
The Red Sox really said to themselves, “I know it’s been five years and everyone already hates us for it and thinks we’re complete idiots, but how do we make the Mookie Betts trade look even worse? I got it. Let’s trade Rafael Devers a year and a half into his 10-year deal.”
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 16, 2025
The Red Sox's issues with Devers originated this offseason, when the front office was dishonest about its plans for the infield. Devers was repeatedly told the rumors that Boston was coveting a third baseman — Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado — were false. When he found out the rumors were true, Devers was reluctant to take on a new position, but he did, and eventually, he did so well.
Multiple reports have stated that Devers never asked for a midseason trade, as he considered doing over the winter. The front office unloaded him to clean up the problem it created by not being team players, the very thing it claims Devers did wrong.
It’s insane that the Red Sox gave a long term deal to Rafael Devers in part because of the enormous backlash to the Mookie Betts trade, and this where the situation ends, with a shocking trade to the Giants.
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) June 15, 2025
This is an organizational failure on so many fronts that Devers is gone
Red Sox fans deserve far better than organizational failure that is Rafael Devers trade
Devers being gone is just the beginning of everything wrong with the trade. Craig Breslow got two, young, league-average pitchers in return, plus two prospects. The only thing the Red Sox needed to be competitive this season was competent, big league starting pitching help, and they didn't even get that in return for the most beloved player on their roster since Mookie Betts.
The Red Sox also gave the Yankees exactly what they wanted by trading Devers away. The villain of the rivalry, who had just hit his 31st homer against New York hours before, at the young age of 28, will now only face them once a year. Red Sox fans expected to see Devers crush the Yankees for the rest of his playing career, a hope of which they've been robbed. The rivalry may as well be up in smoke — the Yankees still have elite talent like Aaron Judge and Max Fried to dunk on the Red Sox for years to come.
Boston doesn't have a firm plan set for third base after the 2025 season. Bregman has opt-outs in his contract after this season and in 2026. If he leaves at the end of the season, the Red Sox have no one with big-league third base experience to fall back on, and his departure will be unforgivable — Bregman isn't to blame here, but the Red Sox signing him is the reason they're in this mess in the first place.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) June 16, 2025
The Red Sox were on a tear, and their contending window was opening, but the Devers trade has the potential to be a cataclysmic event throughout the clubhouse. Boston was already a young team, and trading Devers, one of the most experienced players on the roster, made its average age even lower.
There's also no telling how the Red Sox's other players will react to the move, and it feels like that was by design — the team was on a cross-country flight to the West Coast when the deal was made, probably to avoid immediate accountability for one of the most shocking moves in baseball in years.
Trading Devers just as fans started to care about this team again is the most Red Sox trade of all time.
— Nick Cattles (@NickCRadio) June 15, 2025
The Red Sox have shown over and over again that they lack loyalty and aren't committed to winning. They blew up the core of the team because of a beef he had with Breslow, a chief baseball officer with no prior experience in his current role and who could be fired within the next few years (if he even makes it that long after this). Fans across social media haven't been shy to share their anger and utter confusion at the move, and it doesn't seem like one the Red Sox organization will recover from quickly.
Boston traded Betts before the 2020 season, when there were no fans in attendance for any games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In that way, the organization's braintrust escaped immediate consequences for trading the sure-fire future Hall of Famer.
The Red Sox won't get off so easily this time, and they'll deserve every ounce of vitriol they get. Even if the stands are empty at Fenway Park for the rest of the season, it won't be enough.