Devers Trade looks fantastic now....

[bobo52]

Trading Devers and his $29 million a year contracts looks like an excellent move with him having a mediocre age 29 year with the Giants  - currently posting a  786 OPS and 1.6 WAR.  The real trade was to use the Devers money to pick up Wilson Contreras for $18 million a year (for 3 years) who is more productive at almost half the cost with a .912 OPS and 4.0 WAR.  In addition the Red Sox  got Kyle Harrison in the Devers trade -  who (along with Shane Drohan) was traded for Caleb Durbin (.729 OPS and 3.3 WAR) , Andrew Monasterio  (.776, 1.5) and Anthony Siegler  (.708, .5).  

Receiving anything back in return - was a bonus - the real win was unloading the big-money contract that will pay a declining skill hitter that we would have paid for 8 more years - until he is 37 in 2034.    Of course Durbin on his own looks to be better than Devers right now and they pay him $800K and have 2 more years of team control.

So to recap:  We got Contreras, Monasterio and Durbin who now cost us under $20  million a year combined  - and the Red Sox gave up Devers and his $29 million a year contracts.  

Devers contract made him replaceable by a highly paid free agent - he just wasnt worth it.  Team control and good contracts are a necessity to build a winner.  If you throw money in bad contracts away to keep a star on the decline the team will suffer.  

Breslow gets an Aplus for this move now that we can look at other in hindsight.  

[notin]

I like the Devers trade but I am not so sure he’s declining already at age 29.  There’s a difference between declining and having a bad year…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

I like the Devers trade but I am not so sure he’s declining already at age 29.  There’s a difference between declining and having a bad year…

He's not declining in San Fran; when they ask him to play 1B, he says yes.

But if he was only a DH, he'd be reclining... between at bats.

[dannycater]

No, the Sox still have a major void at DH--even now with Yoshida on the shelf...yes lucked out in another trade with Milwaukee to get 3 Sox contributors, 2 starters...but in a million years that was still a bad trade to me. Devers 81 games at Fenway means more home runs (they need power,  they have basically won due to power with Abreu and Contreras and Durbin big bombs of course), more doubles. Fenway adds to Devers stats to me.  The Sox have a struggling All-Star catcher now and lucked on the Contreras addition. I'd take Devers back in a milisecond.