The controversial trade that sent longtime Boston Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers across the country to the San Francisco Giants is one year old. Neither side has much to show for it.
Devers hasn't lived up to expectations for the Giants, with a .235/.323/.438 with 36 doubles, one triple, 29 home runs and 84 RBI over 162 games across parts of two seasons. He's had torrid streaks this year and he leads MLB with 21 doubles, but he's largely underwhelmed at the plate to the point that San Francisco is fielding trade offers for him.
Meanwhile, just one of the four players Boston got for Devers remains in the organization: Single-A pitcher Jose Bello. It'll be quite some time before Red Sox fans get to see him, as he's just 21 years old. But despite little from the Devers trade remaining in Boston, an unnamed National League executive believes the Red Sox got the good end of the deal.
“That was actually a good deal for them,” the exec said, via Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “Look at what [Kyle] Harrison is doing this year and [James Tibbs III] looks like a solid outfield prospect. The problem is they moved them both too soon.”
National League exec believes Red Sox got the good end of Rafael Devers trade, but they gave up too soon
Most Red Sox fans are probably quite familiar with Harrison's dominance for the Milwaukee Brewers, as he's been one of the best pitchers in MLB this year. He's posted a 2.47 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 18 walks in 65.2 innings. He arrived at Brewers spring training with a dangerous new pitch that the Red Sox never got to see because they shipped him out of town so quickly.
Top outfield prospect Tibbs lasted even less time, as Boston traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dustin May at the 2025 trade deadline. Tibbs has done nothing but rake since he returned to California to the tune of a .307/.422/.614 slash line with 19 homers in 66 games. The Red Sox wouldn't have had any room for Tibbs in their big league outfield unless they finally traded Jarren Duran or Masataka Yoshida, but Tibbs could've been used in a different trade for a far better return than May.
Harrison and Tibbs were the two centerpieces of the Devers deal, and as soon as they left Boston, they started playing like it. Had the Red Sox given them a real chance before trading them away, they couldv'e raised their value in Boston and been part of a deal to make the Devers trade look far better.
The Red Sox are still desperate for a power bat because their lineup is sorely missing Devers. Willson Contreras has put a dent in their power outage, but the Sox ranked 27th in home runs in the second half of last season and their 58 home runs this season are tied for dead last this year. Harrison and Tibbs could've gone a long way toward adding another power bat via the trade market.
There's no guarantee Harrison and Tibbs would've become the same players in Boston as they are with their current teams — players seem to become completely new people when they leave the Red Sox organization, even Dustin May is throwing complete games now. But Craig Breslow and the rest of Boston's front office could've given them a longer leash before flipping them so quickly. At least the Sox still look smart for moving on from Jordan Hicks.
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