When Rafael Devers stood in front of the media on Thursday and announced he would do “whatever they want me to do,” referring to the Boston Red Sox, many breathed a sigh of relief.
It was clear that in February, Devers was very unhappy about his team potentially moving him off third base to make him the full-time designated hitter. He’d been promised to keep the third base job far longer than this when he signed his extension two years ago, and he’d also been reassured all winter that the team wasn’t going to replace him with Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado.
Yet there Bregman was, walking through the Red Sox clubhouse doors in Fort Myers, Fla. last month. And in the time since, he’s played nothing but third base, while Devers, who has delayed his own spring training debut by asking for more reps against live pitching, has mostly remained out of the public eye.
Devers now seems to be willing to DH if that’s what the Red Sox are planning–and it sure seems like it is. But according to one insider, things got pretty dicey for a moment there.
On Friday, MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported that Devers had considered a trade ultimatum before eventually capitulating to doing what the team asks of him. He may have even brought up the possibility of a trade to the Boston front office at one point during spring training.
“According to sources, Devers was angry enough about the situation to consider asking for a trade,” McAdam wrote. “And it’s possible that, as part of his ‘private conversations’ with Craig Breslow and Co. that he indeed relayed that. “
“Devers is savvy enough to know the Red Sox are not about to disclose any such request, since, if it ever came to a point where a trade was seriously considered, the Sox would lose leverage if Devers was rather publicly shooting his way out of town.”
None of this is to say that a trade was ever truly on the table. If a player asks for a trade, the team doesn’t have to grant it–just look at the situation that unfolded in the NFL this offseason between the Cleveland Browns and Myles Garrett.
The Red Sox were always going to be in a tricky spot with Devers if they signed Bregman, and they made it worse for themselves by misleading Devers consistently over a two-year span. But the team can’t go back and fix the past; they just have to do what they can now to smooth things over.
Winning will solve everything. If Bregman at third and Devers at DH helps the Red Sox win their first division title since 2018, it’s highly doubtful Devers will be upset in hindsight that he wasn’t allowed to continue on at the hot corner.
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