The Boston Red Sox organization has fallen into a pattern of letting elite talent walk or trading it away. Rafael Devers was supposed to be the exception to that rule.
Devers' 10-year contract was supposed to keep him in Boston until 2033, but the two sides parted two years in, left with an "untenable" relationship and irreconcilable differences. There is blame to be assigned to both sides — Devers should've been more open to helping his team and the front office should've treated him like the face of the franchise he was — but management has (justifiably) taken the most criticism over the way things ended.
Boston's front office has caught heat from more than just Red Sox fans. Manny Ramirez weighed in on the matter on June 17 at the MLB Draft Combine.
"Come on, Boston, why you did my guy like that?" Ramirez asked. "You don't treat the face of the team like that. Actually, you're not only disrespecting Devers, you're disrespecting the whole fan base... I don't care if you pay me 300 or 400 million, you need to communicate with me."
Ramirez said everything Red Sox fans have felt throughout the season. The Red Sox expected Devers to be the star of their team, but they treated him like an afterthought when they purposely left him in the dark about their offseason plans to sign Alex Bregman or trade for Nolan Arenado, which is hardly a winning recipe for a good relationship with any player.
Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez defend Rafael Devers, criticize front office after shocking Red Sox trade
.@45PedroMartinez gives his thoughts on the Devers trade 👀 pic.twitter.com/lfhBV6R4O6
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 18, 2025
Like Ramirez, Pedro Martinez sided with Devers in the trade debate and took an equally strong stance. He also highlighted communication issues as the Red Sox's downfall.
"If you try to sell to me, knowing Raffy Devers, that Raffy is a bad teammate or he's not a team player, you're lying. You're gonna tell me he's a bad influence in the clubhouse? He's not," Martinez said.
"This should've been in the hands of baseball people, not front office people. Not leaking it to the media. Not having a back-and-forth between the media, and Alex, and Sam Kennedy, and Breslow. I think it should've been handled by baseball people, Pedroia, Big Papi."
David Ortiz formerly defended Devers' reluctance to change positions, saying it wouldn't come easily to him, but changed his tune after the trade. Breslow is a former player (he pitched for the Red Sox in 2006 and again from 2012-15), and he was expected to be able to communicate with the clubhouse on a more personal level. Clearly, that expectation went unmet.
Former players, including Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Ramirez and Martinez have polarizing opinions on whether the Red Sox did the right thing by trading Devers. The latter two quickly rushed to Devers' defense, and it was especially nice to hear Ramirez mention that Red Sox fans feel disrespected by their antics (which is true, since the entire 2018 team has left Boston, the Red Sox are now a worse team and the front office gets away with not paying Devers' contract). Not enough stars or franchise players finish out their contracts with the Red Sox organization, and Ramirez and Martinez's staunch defenses of Devers suggest the front office may be the problem here.