Article: BREAKING: Rafael Devers Traded To San Francisco Giants

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Add 2025: sign Bregman to the highest AAV in Sox history.

WOW, a deal he can opt out of in one year!!!! 

[Bellhorn04]

Big Papi says:

“Players need to take this as an example, nobody is indispensable," Ortiz said. "You have to be available, that was the end of the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox. You need to be smart to understand the situation. Your worst enemy is your ego.” 

David actually adds another criticism to the pile there - Raffy's reluctance to talk to the media.  That bothered the team as well.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Big Papi says:

“Players need to take this as an example, nobody is indispensable," Ortiz said. "You have to be available, that was the end of the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox. You need to be smart to understand the situation. Your worst enemy is your ego.” 

David actually adds another criticism to the pile there - Raffy's reluctance to talk to the media.  That bothered the team as well.

Papi needs to keep cashing his checks so he can't turn his back on JH. 

[Nick]

Suppose we end up with no super stars.....no Devers, no Bregman

CC Navarez

1B Gonzalez/Casas

2B Campbell

SS Story

3B Mayer

LF Duran

CF Rafaela

RF Anthony

DH Yoshida

Utility....Wong/Gonzalez/Refsnyder/Hamilton

We need to lock up Bregman.

Can we trade Chapman, Buehler, Giolito and get some value and then re-sign them all?

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

WOW, a deal he can opt out of in one year!!!! 

So, that makes it not worthy of mention?

It's not like he's offered $15M for the option year. He just may take it.

If he walks, there is another big chunk of change added to the pot- "MAYBE!"

We may also extend him to a different deal without opt outs.

I get the negativity, today. I'm not happy either.

I called this a 3rd down punt. It's a waste of one year of Crochet & Bregman, and it shortens the window on the front end while barely bumping up the back-end window.

 

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, Nick said:

Can we trade Chapman, Buehler, Giolito and get some value and then re-sign them all?

If they bring Bregman back, they'd have to have a plan to get rid of Story. I don't think they'd bring back Gio. They may not want Buehler back at 24M either. Chapman will just bounce around for the rest of his career as a hired gun IMO. 

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Nick said:

Suppose we end up with no super stars.....no Devers, no Bregman

CC Navarez

1B Gonzalez/Casas

2B Campbell

SS Story

3B Mayer

LF Duran

CF Rafaela

RF Anthony

DH Yoshida

Utility....Wong/Gonzalez/Refsnyder/Hamilton

We need to lock up Bregman.

Can we trade Chapman, Buehler, Giolito and get some value and then re-sign them all?

It's going to come down to how much we spend, this winter, and if we have another big trade or two up our sleeves.

Replacing Buehler, Gio and Hendriks contract value, in kind, looks easy.

Replacing Devers, Bregman & Chapman, in kind, will not be easy but at an AAV of almost $75M for these three's current contracts is not impossible.

The big bummer, to me, is the apparent giving up on 2025. It's obvious this was not part of some long term plan. Why sign Bregman to one year, if we are punting and looking longer term? Our management team is flying by the seat of their pants with no clear goal in sight, except some vague "build for the future, while trying to fool the fanbase about our chances today."

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I get the negativity, today. I'm not happy either.

You've been perfectly happy to trash Devers ever since the trade. Sorry he didn't smile enough for you. 🫠

[Jasonbay44]

Since they’re clearly not trying to win this year, Chapman is absolutely a guy we should trade. He’s an old reliever on a 1 year deal. If someone overpays for him, accept asap. 

[Nick]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

So, that makes it not worthy of mention?

It's not like he's offered $15M for the option year. He just may take it.

If he walks, there is another big chunk of change added to the pot- "MAYBE!"

We may also extend him to a different deal without opt outs.

I get the negativity, today. I'm not happy either.

I called this a 3rd down punt. It's a waste of one year of Crochet & Bregman, and it shortens the window on the front end while barely bumping up the back-end window.

 

Bottom line is this....perhaps they painted themselves into a corner.....

It goes back to looking for a better defender at 3B that can also hit and they found it. I would think that the team thought this through before signing Bregman. What to do with Devers? Casas was healthy. 

Then it just came down to thinking that they had a noose around their neck with a DH making $30M a year for next 8 years.

No one forced Brez into this situation. I would really love to hear what their long term plans were at the Bregman signing. 

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

Replacing Buehler, Gio and Hendriks contract value, in kind, looks easy.

We say this every year. And every year they come back with the most mediocre offseasons imaginable. Why would '25-'26 be any different? 

"Just sign two starters and a closer! Get a backup catcher and DFA Wong! Trade Story to anyone that will take half of his contract! Either trade Masa or one of the OFers!" You know they won't do much of that no matter how much cap room there is. 

We'll be sitting here 12 months from now wondering if it's another season they're punting on!  

[mvp 78]

Just now, Nick said:

Bottom line is this....perhaps they painted themselves into a corner.....

Whose fault is that? Why can't they just fix it rather than constantly kicking the can down the road? They have enough money to eat the bad contracts and clear the way for better players! 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

39 minutes ago, Nick said:

We still have Story which means we have Mayer at 3B. He's fine defensively at 3B.

We can find another bat or combination of bats. 1B, 3B, DH spots are open.

 

Not sure how much story has left in the tank.

[notin]

33 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Big Papi says:

“Players need to take this as an example, nobody is indispensable," Ortiz said. "You have to be available, that was the end of the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox. You need to be smart to understand the situation. Your worst enemy is your ego.” 

David actually adds another criticism to the pile there - Raffy's reluctance to talk to the media.  That bothered the team as well.

I don’t mind if players who don’t speak English or who are not comfortable with their English do not talk to the English-speaking media..

[notin]

9 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Since they’re clearly not trying to win this year, Chapman is absolutely a guy we should trade. He’s an old reliever on a 1 year deal. If someone overpays for him, accept asap. 

Also Wilson, who has surprisingly become an actual trade candidate as opposed to (my prediction of) DFA fodder…

[Jasonbay44]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

Also Wilson, who has surprisingly become an actual trade candidate as opposed to (my prediction of) DFA fodder…

Yeah he’s another one. Old, performing well and on a 1 year deal. LHRP often have value at the deadline so I wouldn’t be opposed to dealing them for prospects 

[moonslav59]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

You've been perfectly happy to trash Devers ever since the trade. Sorry he didn't smile enough for you. 🫠

You know it went beyond that, and that was a minor sign or symptom of a larger issue. It was one instance of not hustling, either.

I liked Devers, a lot. I wasn't happy with him not agreeing to do what was best for the team, but I've also pointed out that it looks like his manager never asked him to do so. I never felt any hint of any attitude issues, before this year. I cut him some slack for a few months, and wondered about statements lost in translation and cultural differences. I wanted Devers "forevers," and I still wish we could have made that happen, even at $31M a year for a forever DH.

His bat is not easily replaced, and while we can try to justify the trade by saying no forever DH is worth $31M x 10, that does no ease the gut punch of losing his bat in our line-up.

I have no idea if JH will send the "money saved." We've been burned by these hopes, too many time to expect he will. Even if he does, it doesn't help 2025. It's just mid June, and we may have been starting a nice run at something special, and we punted on 3rd down at the 40 yard line, early in the 3rd quarter of a close game. It makes very little to no sense, unless you can totally decouple from the fact that we dumped our best player just as we started making a move.

To try to look at any bright side takes a decoupling. No DH is worth $31M x 10. Add to that him being a poor role model, this year and having so many bigtime rookies joining the clubhouse, this season. Add to that the Yoshida is only a DH aspect to our roster. Add to that some reports that say Harrison has a ton of upside as a SP'er, going forward and Tibbs being a fine looking prospect that won't bitch about playing 1B. The biggest "add to that" is going to be what our winter spending budget will be- not just this winter, but going forward. If JH goes back to being a miser, I doubt our kids can carry us to a ring or even a WS appearance without some serious expensive additions and or an emptying of the farm beyond the big 3.

I'm tired of waiting. I'm not happy this went down. I'm not blaming just Brez, Cora, JH & Co. Devers has to bear part of the blame, too. We can disagree on how much goes to who, but Devers deserves some criticism.

[Nick]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Whose fault is that? Why can't they just fix it rather than constantly kicking the can down the road? They have enough money to eat the bad contracts and clear the way for better players! 

Oh it's definitely their fault.

As I said, what was the plan when they signed Bregman when they had Casas at 1B, waiting for him to blossom.

How does Devers fit in? His only spot was DH yet the team complained about having a $30M DH.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

I don’t mind if players who don’t speak English or who are not comfortable with their English do not talk to the English-speaking media..

Masa better figure it out before he gets back here! 😡

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Nick said:

His only spot was DH yet the team complained about having a $30M DH.

They signed him to that contract. JH approved it! 

FanGraphs had him already being worth 16M this season and it's only mid-June. 

[Nick]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

They signed him to that contract. JH approved it! 

FanGraphs had him already being worth 16M this season and it's only mid-June. 

I am agreeing with you......

 

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

We say this every year. And every year they come back with the most mediocre offseasons imaginable. Why would '25-'26 be any different? 

I'm not saying we will do it, or that we will be successful even if we actually do it.

We did try, this year. We spent more than we lost, for the first time in a while.

The Bregman deal was a big change from even the Story and Yoshida deals, despite the opt out aspect.

Buehler's deal was worth Kluber + Richards.

Gio's, the year before was a failure, but it was a step up attempt.

We have failed on our biggest contracts. I've been saying that for years.

We failed with paying Devers $31M x 10, too. We didn't get any better, and no we dumped him.

I'm not defending our management by calling attention to the role Devers played in this debacle. I'm not letting anyone off the hook. This sucks, and I'm not "happy" criticizing Devers (nor management.)

 

[dgalehouse]

31 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

So, that makes it not worthy of mention?

It's not like he's offered $15M for the option year. He just may take it.

If he walks, there is another big chunk of change added to the pot- "MAYBE!"

We may also extend him to a different deal without opt outs.

I get the negativity, today. I'm not happy either.

I called this a 3rd down punt. It's a waste of one year of Crochet & Bregman, and it shortens the window on the front end while barely bumping up the back-end window.

 

" A waste of Crochet and Bregman"?  How so? Does that mean you think the season is over? We just saw how the Sox can handle the overrated Yankees. And there are several good options to DH.  Losing Devers and his attitude is not the end of the season. Not at all. 

[Kimmi]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Exactly.

If Devers were to ask to be traded, the ideal time would have been that meeting with Henry, right?  Why meet with him otherwise?  To tattle on Breslow?

I don't know what happened in that meeting, but according to the people in the know, Devers was as good as gone by the time that meeting concluded.

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Nick said:

I am agreeing with you......

 

I know. I'm just frustrated with this dumb team! 

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

" A waste of Crochet and Bregman"?  How so? Does that mean you think the season is over? We just saw how the Sox can handle the overrated Yankees. And there are several good options to DH.  Losing Devers and his attitude is not the end of the season. Not at all. 

Who would DH that could be half the player Devers is? 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

I don't know what happened in that meeting, but according to the people in the know, Devers was as good as gone by the time that meeting concluded.

Doesn't say a lot for their managerial style, that's for sure. 

[vjcsmoke]

48 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

So, that makes it not worthy of mention?

It's not like he's offered $15M for the option year. He just may take it.

If he walks, there is another big chunk of change added to the pot- "MAYBE!"

We may also extend him to a different deal without opt outs.

I get the negativity, today. I'm not happy either.

I called this a 3rd down punt. It's a waste of one year of Crochet & Bregman, and it shortens the window on the front end while barely bumping up the back-end window.

 

I'm shocked we dealt Devers. I mean I get his decision to stick to DH and not play the field anymore didn't sit well with management. But he's our best offensive player and hitting his best recently. He banged his 15th homer the other day, his 500th career extra base hit.

Now he will play for the Giants and it feels like a salary dump. What haul did we get in return? A starting pitcher Jordan Hicks who has been unlucky with a 6.47 ERA this year. The Giants top pitching prospect in Kyle Harrison who we hope will pan out. And some lesser prospects.  No sure fire proven players here. We better hope Harrison turns into a top of the rotation pitcher for the Red Sox or this trade will go down in infamy.

[Randy Red Sox]

17 hours ago, illinoisredsox said:

Doesn’t mean he’s going to stay there all year.

i'm sure he won't but given he was likely the big piece in the trade don't you find it a bit odd??

[Kimmi]

3 hours ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

They traded a top 10 hitter in his prime for little return.  There is no positive spin to this and people need to just stop with that nonsense.  The reaction around the league makes it pretty clear that the Boston Red Sox got screwed in this trade and it's not even close. 

If you go to the game look up at managment and let your feelings known. If you really cared you'd stop going to the games to send JH a message.

 

 

This deal wasn't about the return package.  It was about ridding themselves of the massive contract (a big plus) because they felt the need to rid themselves of a player that they felt was selfish.  Devers was not setting a good example for the many young players on this team.  He was not providing good player  leadership, something this team sorely needs.

The FO sent a message that they don't care how big a superstar you are and how much money you're getting paid, the team comes first.