Boston fans have seen this movie play out before—and they probably wish they could change the ending. First, it was Mookie Betts packing for Los Angeles in 2020. Then Xander Bogaerts walked out to San Diego. And now Rafael Devers is shown the door, too. On Tuesday, the slugger made it official—smoke machines, orange and black jersey, and the entire schbang—he is the newest star of the San Francisco Giants.
Just like that, the Boston Red Sox lost their homegrown, three-time All-Star to the NL West. Wild, right? And the trade sent absolute shockwaves across Boston and got the entire league buzzing. Even legends of the franchise were divided into Team Front Office and Team Devers.
However, the trade didn’t just shake Boston—it had ripple effects across the AL East, too. After all, those teams have been dealing with the Rafael Devers bat for years. Now that he is suddenly not their problem anymore is a huge deal. And Yankee’s catcher, Austin Wells, and several others didn’t even try to hide the relief with this news.
“Not upset. We’ll see him maybe once or twice now. Yeah, not upset about not having to face him four times,” said the 25-year-old star to The Athletic. And can you really blame him? Devers had torched the Yankees’ pitching—31 career homers against the team with no signs of slowing down. Not just Wells, even Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman didn’t hide their feelings either. “You feel pretty good when those guys leave the division.” But these are players who might benefit from this trade, but did you know one player has already benefited from it? Cue in Ryan O’Hearn. The Orioles’ DH has suddenly found himself in the All-Star spotlight, all thanks to Devers changing leagues.
Before the trade, it was Rafael Devers who was leading the AL in All-Star votes at DH. But once he became a Giant, those votes got rerouted to the National League. And guess who has shot up at the top? Yes… It’s O’Hearn. He even joked on Foul Territory, “I just want to shout out Craig Breslow real quick,” giving credit to the Boston top executive for clearing his path. It’s clear now that Devers is more like an NL West problem!
But across the league, it’s team front office vs. team Devers—and even Boston legends are split.
Rafael Devers’ saga splits Boston legends
Boston legends are not reading from the same script when it comes to the Rafael Devers saga. On one side, you have David Ortiz—someone who has always backed Devers through the “move him out of position” fiasco. But he is siding with the front office on this, and Big Papi actually called out Devers’ attitude. For him, it’s black and white: players are employees. If the team asks you to shift positions, you do it.
But then there is Pedro Martinez. And on, boy, he is not holding back. Even though he is technically part of the Boston Red Sox front office himself, he let out his feelings without any filters. He called out everyone from Alex Cora, Sam Kennedy, and Craig Breslow. According to him, the Devers mess was botched from the start. “I was shocked, because if you try to sell to me, knowing Raffy Devers, that Raffy is a bad teammate or he’s not a team player, you’re lying.” His biggest gripe is that baseball decisions were handled by the wrong people, and even worse, played out by the media like a spat.
And as if on cue, Devers stepped onto the field in orange and black and made a huge impact for the Giants. He hit a double, collected an RBI, and even took a grounder at first base. It is the same position that Boston couldn’t get him to practice for over a month now. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox were busy getting blanked 8-0 by the Seattle Mariners. Ouch! So yeah, one thing is clear: removing your best hitter will sting.
What do you think about the entire Devers trade? Was it a writing on the wall, like it was for many? Let us know in the comments.
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