Article: Meet The New Members of the Red Sox Organization

[Alex Mayes]

In what is likely the most shocking trade in the history of the Red Sox — or, at least the last five years of the Red Sox — superstar DH Rafael Devers has been traded to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants assume the entirety of Devers’ $254 million contract. In return, the Red Sox are receiving RHP Jordan Hicks, LHP Kyle Harrison, OF James Tibbs III, and RHP Jose Bello. In lieu of an opinion piece, which will absolutely come later, let’s discuss the newest members of the Boston Red Sox’s organization.

RHP Jordan Hicks

Hicks is currently on the injured list with a toe injury, but prior to the ailment, he amassed a 6.47 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, with 43 strikeouts over 48.2 innings pitched this year. Hicks was somewhat of a coveted free agent before he signed with the Giants in free agency before the 2024 season. He features a four-pitch mix: a sinker that averages 97.3 MPH, a sweeper that averages 82.4 MPH, a four-seam fastball that averages 97.2 MPH, and a splitter that averages 89 MPH. He was a supplemental pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015 and featured flashes of elite stuff before he leveled off and was shuttled between their starting rotation and bullpen. He looks to bounce back with the Red Sox once he returns from injury as a member of the starting rotation, though a future in the bullpen shouldn't be counted out if the team wants a long-ish term closing option in place before dealing Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline.

LHP Kyle Harrison

Harrison is likely viewed as the prize in this deal, though the next player may have something to say about that. He’s already been assigned to Triple-A Worcester, which shouldn’t be much of a shock. The pitching coaches in Boston will want to tinker with his mechanics to get him game ready, but he should see time at the major league level sooner than later. He likely will slot in as a starting pitcher for the Sox once Boston helps him stretch back out into a starter. In the majors this year he has a 4.56 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, with 25 strikeouts over 23.2 innings pitched. He features a three-pitch mix: a four-seam fastball that averages at 95.1 MPH, a slurve that averages 83.1 MPH, and a change-up that averages 87 MPH. He’s not a pitcher that will blow you away by any means, but there’s enough under the hood that warrants some attention. Harrison was Baseball America’s 26 overall prospect and MLB Pipeline’s 23rd overall prospect entering 2024. He has graduated from prospect status but has the pedigree to be a big contributor once he figures out the big leagues.

OF James Tibbs III

Tibbs comes to the organization from the Giants’ High-A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds. He’s a power-first outfielder who is slashing .246/.478/.857. He has 12 homers and three stolen bases in 207 at-bats. He rose to High-A fairly quickly in 2024 and looks to make the same move up once he arrives in Greenville. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Florida State. He was the fourth-ranked prospect in the Giants’ system, and should ascend to a similar status once the Big Three graduate. Where he has shined so far is his walk rate (16.3%); he shows great discipline for a young prospect. He will be one to watch as he progresses through the system.

RHP Jose Bello

Bello was signed as an international free agent in 2023 by the Giants. He is currently assigned to their Rookie-level affiliate where he has a 1-0 record, 2.00 ERA, two saves, a 0.72 WHIP, and 28 strikeouts over 18 innings pitched. He has floated around the low levels of the Giants’ system since signing and has not been ranked within the Giants’ top 30 prospects during his time in the system, per MassLive. However, FanGraphs did have him up at 22 in San Francisco's system.

The biggest thing the Red Sox did by dealing Rafael Devers was clear the remainder of his salary off the books. They have saved $254 million by having the Giants agree to take on the entirety of his contract, lessening the return. The biggest question that remains now is: What does the front office hope to do with that money? Your guess is as good as mine. Only time will tell if the Red Sox can stomach trading another franchise superstar within the decade.

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[Larry Cook]

Tibbs, ehrhard, Garcia and Castro, we got some serious outfield talent between Worcester and Portland!!!!

[harmony]

This past week James Tibbs III went 9-for-23 with five walks for the Eugene Emeralds in a six-game series at the Hillsboro Hops:

https://www.milb.com/player/james-tibbs-iii-696486?stats=gamelogs-r-hitting-mlb&year=2025

This poster worked guest services at four of those games.😉

 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

The talent level in the group for Devers is icing on the cake.  Losing the $30Million from payroll opens lots of doors to direct the money to better places.  The talent received immediately improves the pitching roster without spending a cent.  The hitting got a boost too.

EVERYTHING is positive with respect to this deal.

[bkzwhitestrican]

40 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

The talent level in the group for Devers is icing on the cake.  Losing the $30Million from payroll opens lots of doors to direct the money to better places.  The talent received immediately improves the pitching roster without spending a cent.  The hitting got a boost too.

EVERYTHING is positive with respect to this deal.

Maybe I'm missing something, but Devers is still a top 10 hitter in MLB. Not sure how losing your best hitter improves hitting. And there's no guarantee any of the young players ever reach Devers' level. 

Time will tell if this is a good move. But if the youngsters don't develop as planned then this might be another Mookie situation. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

6 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

The talent level in the group for Devers is icing on the cake.  Losing the $30Million from payroll opens lots of doors to direct the money to better places.  The talent received immediately improves the pitching roster without spending a cent.  The hitting got a boost too.

EVERYTHING is positive with respect to this deal.

That might be the funniest thing I've read in quite some time.

The sox got hosed, maybe even worse than the mookie deal.

[mvp 78]

Jordan Hicks: reclamation project

Harrison: former top prospect who has done very little in 3 MLB stints (4 seam only)

Bello: complex league lottery ticket

Tibbs: poor man's Triston Casas 

 

[Larry Cook]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Jordan Hicks: reclamation project

Harrison: former top prospect who has done very little in 3 MLB stints (4 seam only)

Bello: complex league lottery ticket

Tibbs: poor man's Triston Casas 

 

Harrison is the key to this deal! He has a ceiling of a #2 starter and a floor of a high leverage bullpen guy! The Sox must have seen something with this guy to include him in the trade. 
my guess is Harrison is at Worcester to learn to throw strikes with his secondary pitches!!!  Harrison will be on the same program as tolle fitts and early. Start the game with a your best stuff. Once you settle into a rhythm,  on the second time through the opposing lineup, you start throwing secondary pitches almost exclusively!!!  

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Harrison is the key to this deal! He has a ceiling of a #2 starter and a floor of a high leverage bullpen guy! The Sox must have seen something with this guy to include him in the trade. 
my guess is Harrison is at Worcester to learn to throw strikes with his secondary pitches!!!  Harrison will be on the same program as tolle fitts and early. Start the game with a your best stuff. Once you settle into a rhythm,  on the second time through the opposing lineup, you start throwing secondary pitches almost exclusively!!!  

He doesn't have any secondary pitches. That #2 ceiling has sailed. 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

5 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

That might be the funniest thing I've read in quite some time.

The sox got hosed, maybe even worse than the mookie deal.

Just taking back the contract is a massive gain since it was a massive overpay.  Now add the players and Boston ends up way ahead.  They can better distribute that money to help the team.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

2 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Harrison is the key to this deal! He has a ceiling of a #2 starter and a floor of a high leverage bullpen guy! The Sox must have seen something with this guy to include him in the trade. 
my guess is Harrison is at Worcester to learn to throw strikes with his secondary pitches!!!  Harrison will be on the same program as tolle fitts and early. Start the game with a your best stuff. Once you settle into a rhythm,  on the second time through the opposing lineup, you start throwing secondary pitches almost exclusively!!!  

Every player in the deal is a bonus.  Just getting back the nearly $300Million left on the contract was the huge win.  That money can be redeployed more effectively.  The players, like I said, are the icing on the cake.  If one turns out great it's a bonus.  If all do, it's a bigger bonus.  When Breslow uses the $30M per year to get more pitching the team will benefit greatly.  He could extend Bregman and remove his opt out for starters.  The payroll cost of Devers FAR exceeded his value so this was a lucky break.  I believe Devers will not be the 129 OPS hitter after his 31 season.  Lets wait and see.  I think in a few years you will just how great this deal is.  The players will have provided value and the money redirected to other players will provide far more value than Devers ever could have.

Harrison could be the best part of the deal but the other players also have upsides we won't know for several years.  It truly is a win-win in that we win with the players and we win with the money returned to be used elsewhere.

[Jasonbay44]

Imagine what they could do with all the money they saved by trading Devers. Maybe they could sign another Trevor Story, Lucas Giolito, Corey Kluber, Walker Buehler and Yoshida!!! 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Imagine what they could do with all the money they saved by trading Devers. Maybe they could sign another Trevor Story, Lucas Giolito, Corey Kluber, Walker Buehler and Yoshida!!! 

They should trade Bregman and Chapman ASAP. Think of all the $$$ they'll save and players they can add.

Maybe get ahead of that horrible Crochet extension and trade him before he gets too expensive!

[Jasonbay44]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

They should trade Bregman and Chapman ASAP. Think of all the $$$ they'll save and players they can add.

Maybe get ahead of that horrible Crochet extension and trade him before he gets too expensive!

Maybe they can replicate the Sale Trade and deal Crotchet somewhere and pay his salary and see if he can win a cy young while we pay him to do so on another team. Possible the Marlins would deal -0.8 WAR Matt Mervis for Crotchet? Seems like a good Vaughn Grissom comp! 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

41 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Just taking back the contract is a massive gain since it was a massive overpay.  Now add the players and Boston ends up way ahead.  They can better distribute that money to help the team.

That remains to be seen.

[Larry Cook]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He doesn't have any secondary pitches. That #2 ceiling has sailed. 

From what I can see, he has an inconsistent slider and a poor change up! 
 

the kid is 23 years old, might be a little early to say #2 has sailed!  
 

if Harrison becomes the closer or 8th inning reliever we desperately need, then I can live with that! 

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

From what I can see, he has an inconsistent slider and a poor change up! 
 

the kid is 23 years old, might be a little early to say #2 has sailed!  
 

if Harrison becomes the closer or 8th inning reliever we desperately need, then I can live with that! 

For Harrison, I'm seeing Andrew Heaney, AJ Puk, Manaea, JP Sears comps (low slot, high spin which can make the offspeed stuff hard to come by for some guys). 

[Larry Cook]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

For Harrison, I'm seeing Andrew Heaney, AJ Puk, Manaea, JP Sears comps (low slot, high spin which can make the offspeed stuff hard to come by for some guys). 

I think that is fair and accurate!!  
 

And maybe Bailey teaches him a cut fastball that comes out of the same arm slot so he has something to keep the hitters honest 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

I think that is fair and accurate!!  
 

And maybe Bailey teaches him a cut fastball that comes out of the same arm slot so he has something to keep the hitters honest 

There's a very good chance Harrison and Hicks are both bullpen guys next season. Maybe part of a very good bullpen? IDK. 

[moonslav59]

15 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

The talent level in the group for Devers is icing on the cake.  Losing the $30Million from payroll opens lots of doors to direct the money to better places.  The talent received immediately improves the pitching roster without spending a cent.  The hitting got a boost too.

EVERYTHING is positive with respect to this deal.

"The hitting got a boost..."

Do you even listen to yourself?

What planet are you on?

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

There's a very good chance Harrison and Hicks are both bullpen guys next season. Maybe part of a very good bullpen? IDK. 

Our pitching and pitching depth did improve with this deal, both now and over the next few years, on paper. Harrison and Hicks both seem better than our 12th and 13th pitchers have been, this year and in recent years. They also knock everyone below them down 2 slots on the depth charts, and so in that way, improve the deeper depth that is ML ready. Jose Bello gives us one more quality but far away hopeful arm. That's not a bad thing.

We lost some serious offense. Nobody can dispute that or minimize it. We can hope or pray we somehow cobble together replacements and upgrades from several players that may minimize the impact of this loss, but as of now, that's all it is- hopes and prayers.

Right now, soxprospects.com has this projected 2026 roster:

SP: Crochet, Sandoval, Bello, Dobbins, Crawford, Harrison

RP: (Chapman) Hicks, Slaten, Whitlock, Houck, Weissert, Fitts, Bernardino, Alcala (Wink, Criswell)

C: Narvaez, Wong

1B: Toro, Romy (Casas)

2B: Campbell, Story (DHam/Grissom)

SS: Mayer, Story

3B: Bregman, Story

LF: Anthony, Duran

CF: Rafaela, Duran

RF: Abreu, Anthony

DH: Duran, Yoshida

(I took the liberty of assigning primary back-ups)

Tibbs: LF in POR

J Bello SP in SAL

[Larry Cook]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Our pitching and pitching depth did improve with this deal, both now and over the next few years, on paper. Harrison and Hicks both seem better than our 12th and 13th pitchers have been, this year and in recent years. They also knock everyone below them down 2 slots on the depth charts, and so in that way, improve the deeper depth that is ML ready. Jose Bello gives us one more quality but far away hopeful arm. That's not a bad thing.

We lost some serious offense. Nobody can dispute that or minimize it. We can hope or pray we somehow cobble together replacements and upgrades from several players that may minimize the impact of this loss, but as of now, that's all it is- hopes and prayers.

Right now, soxprospects.com has this projected 2026 roster:

SP: Crochet, Sandoval, Bello, Dobbins, Crawford, Harrison

Starting pitching 

crochet 

Cease

Alcantara 

Dobbins 

bello

depth - Crawford, Harrison, fitts 

 

 

 

 

[Jasonbay44]

37 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Starting pitching 

crochet 

Cease

Alcantara 

Dobbins 

bello

depth - Crawford, Harrison, fitts 

 

 

 

 

Alcantara has been one of worst pitchers in baseball this season. Hard pass

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Alcantara has been one of worst pitchers in baseball this season. Hard pass

A lot of people have wanted to trade for this guy (and a bunch of other mediocre Marlins starters). 

[Larry Cook]

15 hours ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Alcantara has been one of worst pitchers in baseball this season. Hard pass

The stuff is undeniable, the control and command is not good!!! Currently that is