No One Leaves the Rafael Devers Trade Looking Good

Not the Red Sox front office, not their manager, and certainly not Devers himself

I’ll be honest. I had a different kind of post ready to go today, operating on the mistaken assumption that the Thunder would take care of business with Tyrese Haliburton hobbled. They didn’t, so now we’re here. I’ll miss the last game while I’m on my honeymoon, which is a shame, because this series has been and continues to be awesome. But hey. All due respect to the association, I’m signing off for a couple weeks.

Before I do though — I wanted to touch on a rather significant MLB transaction this week. Even the casuals remember that the Boston Red Sox notoriously traded Mookie Betts a few years back, willingly parting ways with a future Hall of Famer who had already led the team to a championship and was quite possibly the city’s favorite athlete at the time not named Tom Brady. (Then Brady left the next month. In March 2020. Rough go for Beantown.)

This was a tough look for one of the richest franchises in all of pro sports. Only the Yankees and Dodgers are worth more on paper. It’s not as if the Sox can’t afford a top-five payroll. And it had to sting when Betts went onto immediate success in LA, winning the World Series the year of the trade and then adding another one last year.

It’s a tougher look for the franchise that notoriously sold Babe Ruth a century prior, leading to ~84 years of Curse of the Bambino exile. Not that I really believe in that, nor should you. Seems like a lot of bad luck and mismanagement to me. And yet! You’d think it would least make people running the team a little more sensitive to stuff like this. How quickly we forget our history.

And thus, as the saying goes, it repeats itself. It’s happening again. The Red Sox traded their best young player this week, Rafael Devers, who was supposed to finish his career in Boston. He wasn’t Mookie Betts good — very few are — but he was a three-time All Star who’s already north of 200 HRs on his career. He’s a great player. The type you don’t typically let go.

I’d have introduced him with his position on the diamond, but uh… well, I guess we’re not quite sure anymore. That’s what’s at issue here.

For those unaware, Rafael Devers came up as a third baseman, and not an especially good one. His glovework has not been his strong suit, shall we say. For a while now, his career has been trending towards DHing instead. And it’s not like there’s any shame in that! I can think of at least one legendary Red Sox DH who seemed to take to that position just fine. And don’t you worry, we’ll get to him.

Because the Red Sox have eyes, they noticed these shortcomings. They also noted that there were a few good third basemen available this offseason, two of whom they batted their eyes at especially hard. They ended up bringing in one of those guys, a decorated champion (and cheater with the Astros, but who’s counting) in Alex Bregman. You’d think this would all be well and good. Surely Devers would want the team to be better, right? And I’m sure he did. Everyone likes winning.

But for some reason, the Red Sox brass reportedly insisted on assuring Devers that he would remain the team’s third baseman whether they made a trade or not. All while they were actively seeking to replace him on the hot corner. If that sounds a little bit risky, and a little bit more like managerial malpractice, then you’re right on both counts. In retrospect, kinda seems like they should’ve just told him they wanted him to play DH early on and not let this become the sort of thing that could later be construed as deceptive.

And then! Even once the trade was made, there was more talk — and this is public talk, out loud, in front of the media — about moving Bregman to second base than there was about letting him keep his natural position at third, where he is inarguably a much better defender than Devers.

“Rafael Devers is our third baseman,” manager Alex Cora told NESN after the signing. “I always envisioned Alex as a Gold Glover second baseman.”

This is a weird thing to say when, two days after Bregman officially signs the deal, you turn around and tell Devers you want him to move after all. From a baseball standpoint, everything here is defensible. The issue is with the communication. And it’s kind of unconscionable that it got this bad.

Now. In Boston’s defense, I do think that most extremely well-compensated athletes — Devers makes $31M a year — would be able to bring a little more maturity to this situation and put the team’s success first. “It’s a business.” That kind of thing. And I’d have more understanding of how he’s handled this if he was actually good at third base. But he isn’t. All the numbers, and all the tape, say the same thing. This is a guy who actually is better suited to DH. He just didn’t want to, not after he felt like the team lied to him. I can understand that, but I still can’t totally condone it.

David Ortiz felt similarly, saying the following to The Athletic: “I played for the Red Sox a long time. You think everything with me and the Red Sox was roses and flowers? I went through some tough times also… But I was mature enough to understand and keep things internal. Even in the best families, between the best brothers, shit happens. You need to have the maturity to resolve the problems and move on.”

Maybe I’m just getting old, but I generally agree with that. It’s clear that this was mismanaged. It’s clear that Devers was misled. It’s also clear that, when your manager asks you to play a different position in order to help the team, you’re… kind of being a baby if you feel like you’re somehow “above that,” or you’re just trying to stick it to them. I get it. I really do. And yet, it remains selfish.

I’m sorry, but that’s just my honest reaction, especially after seeing his introductory presser with the Giants, where he said loud and clear that he’d play wherever they wanted. Again, maybe I’m getting old, but I’d be less than thrilled with his conduct were I his now-former teammate. And apart from the fact that this dude can really swing a bat, which counts for a lot, if I were on the Giants, I’d be a little concerned about how sensitive our new star player might be.

In the end, it was all one impressively petty dispute that just kept getting worse and worse until it imploded. I think more blame rests with the Sox and their leadership, but there’s some with Devers too, and I can’t say I leave this particularly proud of either party.

So one fantastically bad pun comes to mind as I look at how the dust has settled on this mess. (Don’t.) It’s a shame they’re breaking up. These guys Devers each other.

🏀 Just when I was ready to stop being surprised by the Indiana Pacers, they’re right back at it. They destroyed the Thunder last night. Completely dominated. And I know, because I had to write a new post the day before leaving for Greece. So thanks for that one, TJ McConnell. I’m out of the predictions business with this series, but I’ll be pretty excited to see how this all goes down. Go Midwest!

🏀 $10B, huh? That’s all the Lakers could get? Nah, just kidding. That’s pretty good I guess. Remember when I said the Celtics wouldn’t have the record for long? I’ll take that victory lap now, but even I didn’t think they’d get smoked by $4B. As those rambunctious kids say: Bussin’.

🏀 I love the Magic’s trade for Desmond Bane. Great shooter, love his competitiveness. He’s not quite an All-Star, and probably won’t become one there, but he rounds out that starting five in a big way, and he’s still something like a top-40 guy. It’s a nice marriage of high-end talent and perfect fit.

💒 … which is also how I hope a pro scout would describe Laura and I’s marriage this weekend! Thanks to all the readers of this newsletter who could make it. It meant the world to us to have our people there. And yes, it could also credibly be described as Magic, and was! Though — respectfully — thankfully not the Orlando kind. Life is good.

I’ll have one pre-loaded post going out on the 27th, which I’m calling the All Fields Summer Reading List. It’s what it sounds like, and is thus a departure from our usual fare. But I hope you dig it anyways and pick something up from the list.

The following week, I’ll be going dark. It’s the 4th of July, so I don’t expect many people are going to mind, but I’ll be on my honeymoon, so that’s my excuse. I’m taking a break! Sue me! Till next time, everybody.