Question of the week: Was trading Devers the right call?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Factor in his defensive ability and the length of the contract. Was it the right call to get out from under that commitment?

 

[Duran Is The Man]

i'm ok with the trade; i just think they did very poorly with the return. ergo, i'm not voting.

maybe your poll should have more options?

[jdc69]

Well it sounds like they are starting over again, so in that sense, it makes sense to get rid of him. I'm just not for the starting over again, more than anything. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

Red Sox news: Prospect landed in Rafael Devers trade roughed up in debut

[FredLynn]

On 6/20/2025 at 2:40 PM, jdc69 said:

Well it sounds like they are starting over again, so in that sense, it makes sense to get rid of him. I'm just not for the starting over again, more than anything. 

Breslow said that they are not giving up on this season and that he expects they are good enough to make a “deep postseason run”.

On what planet is that true?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

13 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Breslow said that they are not giving up on this season and that he expects they are good enough to make a “deep postseason run”.

On what planet is that true?

The deep postseason run he meant was the Berkshire Mountain Marathon in October.

Brez is requiring all 75 Assistant VPs to enter the race, only they won't be doing the actual route; they're just going to each jog 26 miles on treadmills -- so they can all endure the fan experience of rooting for a team going nowhere slow.

[notin]

On 6/20/2025 at 3:43 PM, Duran Is The Man said:

i'm ok with the trade; i just think they did very poorly with the return. ergo, i'm not voting.

maybe your poll should have more options?

I go the opposite.

I hated the idea of trading him, but they seemed to get a decent return (one BA Top 100 SP, a first round pick, and a lottery ticket) for getting SF to take the entire contract. Granted, they were probably helped by the Giants’ inability to attract any major free agent…

[mvp 78]

 

[notin]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

Pffffft.

Once we add Rhys Hoskins, you’ll forget all about ol’ whatsisname…

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

Pffffft.

Once we add Rhys Hoskins, you’ll forget all about ol’ whatsisname…

Mitchie Twobags? 

[jdc69]

4 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Breslow said that they are not giving up on this season and that he expects they are good enough to make a “deep postseason run”.

On what planet is that true?

He must've really felt that the Yankees sweep and that whole period where they were doing well, much of when Devers didn't contribute much, was the new, real Red Sox.

[FredLynn]

21 minutes ago, jdc69 said:

He must've really felt that the Yankees sweep and that whole period where they were doing well, much of when Devers didn't contribute much, was the new, real Red Sox.

I realize he can’t tell us the truth, that like the past four years this team isn’t playing baseball in October, that they define mediocrity. We all know what they are: bums.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Too bad Devers wasn't traded to San Diego because then he would have been reunited with his adult guardian.

[tawest]

I'm happy he's gone. Just watching him after it was decided the Sox were going to take his pitiful fielding/throwing errors off 3rd base and replace him with a more dependable Bregman was enough for me. Then, refusing to make any effort towards helping out at first when Casas went down............. DONE!!

Don't know how he was in the locker room but what kind of message does it send to the rest of the team when the supposed "super star " refuses make the effort. Besides, Toro, Mayar, Gonzalez, Narváez and now Anthony have stepped in and are taking advantage of the PT and are making solid contributions. Sox just need to find someone that can evaluate pitching talent and get some good young arms in the fold and quit dealing with worn out IL surgically repaired arms like they've been doing the past decade.

 

 

[Soxlover]

We will miss his bat for a longtime, but he’s willing to play “anywhere” with SF, so that’s where he belongs.

(I hope they play him everywhere.)

[Hitch]

It's ridiculously early (and pointless) to ask this question now. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 hours ago, Hitch said:

It's ridiculously early (and pointless) to ask this question now. 

But it's not much fun waiting for years of data before answering.  And what exactly will be the point of answering the question then? 😀

[notin]

On 6/27/2025 at 10:57 AM, notin said:

Pffffft.

Once we add Rhys Hoskins, you’ll forget all about ol’ whatsisname…

Hoskins went on the IL. Grade 2 left thumb sprain.  Hes expected to miss at least a month…

[jad]

No.  Why is this difficult?  You do not 'get better' by getting rid of one of your top players for nothing.  (Even when you bad-mouth him and create narratives painting him as a villain--the typical RS strategy for employees they abandon)

[Hitch]

There were some interesting comments from play-by-play broadcaster Will Flemming last night. Mentioned that the players were over the Devers trade, that the move was governed almost entirely by the need to reset the culture and showing the younger players that there is accountability as a teammate, and most shockingly of all, he said he was there with Will Clark (Giants FO) to see Raffy take grounders at 1st base on his 2nd day with the Giants, and Raffy didn't turn up. Mentioned that there are those in the Giants org that aren't sure what they have with yet, as in they know he'll hit homers, but wondering if this is this who he is. 

He also mentioned that there are huge moves coming. Seemed to lean into the speculation Duran is the one that could be going. Hinted that Chaman wouldn't be among the moves, which I found interesting. 

Well worth a listen. 

 

[Bellhorn04]

13 minutes ago, jad said:

No.  Why is this difficult?  You do not 'get better' by getting rid of one of your top players for nothing.  (Even when you bad-mouth him and create narratives painting him as a villain--the typical RS strategy for employees they abandon)

In 20 games with the Giants, Devers has a .735 OPS, 2 HR and a 0.1 bWAR.  That's not very good for a $30 million DH.  And the Sox offense without him is starting to look a lot better.

Regardless of other past mistakes, this time they got it right.   

[dgalehouse]

Devers is a slugger, so his bat is missed to an extent. He is also a grossly overpaid DH. Poor defensive player. An apparent malcontent. A guy who often does not hustle. He was not a good fit on an energetic, enthusiastic, upbeat, young team. They are better off without him.  Breslow knows exactly what he is doing, unlike that jerk scout who called him a bleepin' stiff.  That fool is now trying to explain to his family why he no longer has a job to go to every day. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are off and running. 

[Hitch]

I'm on the side of thinking trading Devers was the right thing to do. I was really annoyed with his attitude and disrespect to his teammates (you don't have to claim this was a smear job - it was there for everyone to see out of the horses mouth), and have no issues with the decision taken (even if I am annoyed how it got to that point) but come on, saying we got this right because he isn't tearing the cover off the ball in a 2 week spell, and claiming the Sox are off and running while only being 2 games above .500 after beating up on two awful teams is as premature as it gets.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

43 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

In 20 games with the Giants, Devers has a .735 OPS, 2 HR and a 0.1 bWAR.  That's not very good for a $30 million DH.  And the Sox offense without him is starting to look a lot better.

Regardless of other past mistakes, this time they got it right.   

Evaluating  players after 20 games is such a strange way to look at this.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

There were some interesting comments from play-by-play broadcaster Will Flemming last night. Mentioned that the players were over the Devers trade, that the move was governed almost entirely by the need to reset the culture and showing the younger players that there is accountability as a teammate, and most shockingly of all, he said he was there with Will Clark (Giants FO) to see Raffy take grounders at 1st base on his 2nd day with the Giants, and Raffy didn't turn up. Mentioned that there are those in the Giants org that aren't sure what they have with yet, as in they know he'll hit homers, but wondering if this is this who he is. 

He also mentioned that there are huge moves coming. Seemed to lean into the speculation Duran is the one that could be going. Hinted that Chaman wouldn't be among the moves, which I found interesting. 

Well worth a listen. 

 

Will is a bigtime FO homer. He went all in on the culture needing to change once Raffy was out the door. Most of the teammates just said "Raffy was one of 26 guys, we're moving on" and weren't pointing to there being any clubhouse issues. The only people saying there were clubhouse issues are from the FO. Everyone else has said they liked playing with Raffy and that it's just part of the game that people get traded. Duran basically said "what am I supposed to do, cry about it or get up and play baseball the next day?" People in Giants camp have said that the Raffy 1b practice was rescheduled as he's still dealing with groin issues and isn't able to really work out. Everyone just wants to make a big deal about it though, especially a real whiner and blowhard like Will Clark. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, dgalehouse said:

Devers is a slugger, so his bat is missed to an extent. He is also a grossly overpaid DH. Poor defensive player. An apparent malcontent. A guy who often does not hustle. He was not a good fit on an energetic, enthusiastic, upbeat, young team. They are better off without him.  Breslow knows exactly what he is doing, unlike that jerk scout who called him a bleepin' stiff.  That fool is now trying to explain to his family why he no longer has a job to go to every day. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are off and running. 

I’m honestly not in agreement with the whole “overpaid to be a DH” aspect.  Devers was signed in accordance with his offensive skill set at 3b.  That salary doesn’t affect my opinion as his roles change over time.  And it’s far from the worst allocation of money we’ve all seen.

I hate losing the bat, but I don’t mind seeing the whiny “me first” attitude hit the road.

I think they did ok on the return.  Time will tell, but most teams seem to fair poorly when dealing superstars for multiple prospects.  Certainly there have been some success stories (most recently the Nats).  My biggest fear was the acquisition of Hicks.  Was he only included for money?  Or as a replacement for Chapman as there is no next man out the door?

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

Evaluating  players after 20 games is such a strange way to look at this.

Sure, but a number of Sox fans were freaking out because the offense hit the skids for a little stretch after trading Devers.

[Hitch]

34 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Will is a bigtime FO homer. He went all in on the culture needing to change once Raffy was out the door. Most of the teammates just said "Raffy was one of 26 guys, we're moving on" and weren't pointing to there being any clubhouse issues. The only people saying there were clubhouse issues are from the FO. Everyone else has said they liked playing with Raffy and that it's just part of the game that people get traded. Duran basically said "what am I supposed to do, cry about it or get up and play baseball the next day?" People in Giants camp have said that the Raffy 1b practice was rescheduled as he's still dealing with groin issues and isn't able to really work out. Everyone just wants to make a big deal about it though, especially a real whiner and blowhard like Will Clark. 

He wasn't the only one going all in on the culture thing. A lot of reporters did, and ones that you could not call homers in any way. And that was the most obvious thing about it all. Devers attitude sucked and he threw his teammates under the bus. Regardless of everything else that went on, when the team needed him he turned his back, then gleefully opened his arms to the same requests at the Giants. Do you have the quotes that Raffy's 1B practise was rescheduled? I googled but can't find any.

You have a history of ragging on any reporter/journo that disagrees with your assessment of how things lie. You have attacked Cotillo's reputation a few times when I've brought him up, and then used him to agree with one of your arguments when it suited. So I have a tough time trusting your read on these people (not that you might be wrong here - I don't particularly know). 

[Bellhorn04]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

My biggest fear was the acquisition of Hicks.  Was he only included for money?  Or as a replacement for Chapman as there is no next man out the door?

I see no reason for fear.  No doubt he was included by the Giants for some payroll relief.  I'm sure Breslow hopes he can be a solid late inning guy, but I'm also pretty sure Breslow doesn't see him as a slam dunk replacement for Chapman...

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sure, but a number of Sox fans were freaking out because the offense hit the skids for a little stretch after trading Devers.

It was on the skids even prior to Devers leaving. It's fair to track when the offense isn't performing.

From June 10 - June 27:

28th in runs

29th in wRC+

29th in K%

After June 28th (TOR/CIN/WSN/COL, 5 of 9 games with 9+ runs):

1st in runs

1st in wRC+

4th in K%