The Boston Red Sox Situation with Rafael Devers is Officially a Mess

Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers is upset with the team's front office, and he made it known on Wednesday after the Sox beat the Texas Rangers 5-0 at Fenway Park.

Devers, who was moved off third base and moved to designated hitter to accommodate Alex Bregman's offseason signing, said the team recently approached him about moving to first base in the wake of the injury to Triston Casas, and he says he's not willing to do it.

Per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic on social media:

Rafael Devers says he’s not willing to play first base. Doesn’t understand why the team wants him to move again after asking him to change positions in spring training. He said things are fine in the clubhouse but he’s clearly frustrated with Breslow.

Rafael Devers says he’s not willing to play first base. Doesn’t understand why the team wants him to move again after asking him to change positions in spring training. He said things are fine in the clubhouse but he’s clearly frustrated with Breslow.
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) May 8, 2025

Let's understand that this is a layered situation with many different things at play.

1) Devers was given a 10-year, $330 million extension before the 2022 season. That money does give him a degree of clout in the organization and comes with a degree of respect owed.

2) Craig Breslow, the current chief baseball officer of the Red Sox, is not the guy who gave him that deal: Chaim Bloom was. So Breslow may not feel the same allegiances to him or his sensibilities.

3) It's understandable why Devers is upset. He was moved off his longtime position in spring training, and is clearly still bitter about it. For a player making $330 million, still in his age 28 season, to be moved off your primary position has to be insulting. And furthermore, Bregman has an opt-out after the 2025 season, so to make Devers leave his position for a guy who may only be here for a year? Also insulting.

4) By not moving to first base, Devers does come off looking selfish and not looking like a team player.

MY TAKE

Red Sox ownership and Breslow fouled this situation up from the start. At $330 million, Devers is at least owed a conversation in the offseason. By all accounts, it appears that they just signed Bregman and were going to deal with the fall-out later. They needed to head this off before it started.

They needed to go to Devers in the offseason, with a plan, and a rationale for what was happening. If they did that, they may have never pursued Bregman, or they have gotten Devers' blessing on the move.

Or, maybe they would have signed Bregman, and put him at second base. That would have allowed them to play Devers at third and to keep prospect Kristian Campbell in the minor leagues, and if they didn't want to do that, they could put him in the outfield and moved off Wilyer Abreu or Ceddanne Rafaela.

There were options on the table, but Boston didn't have them at their disposal because they didn't address this with Devers early enough.

Now, they are dealing with the fallout.

MY TAKE

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