Giants Baseball Insider

Red Sox Mismanagement of New Giants Star Named Biggest Failure of 2025 So Far

The San Francisco Giants lucked out when the Boston Red Sox fumbled their superstar slugger, leading to the blockbuster trade a few weeks ago.
Jun 26, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA;  San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins in the third inning at Oracle Park.
Jun 26, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins in the third inning at Oracle Park. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

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The San Francisco Giants may end up being one of the luckiest teams of the year, as they are the benefactors of a massive mistake by the Boston Red Sox.

Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly recently ranked the "biggest fails" of the 2025 MLB season so far, and the Red Sox mismanaging the Rafael Devers situation ended up taking the crown.

That means it's considered a bigger fail than the Pittsburgh Pirates wasting an incredible year from Paul Skenes, the historically bad start from the Colorado Rockies, Luis Robert Jr. slashing .185/.270/.313 in the year that the Chicago White Sox were finally going to trade him and more.

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It all started this past offseason when Boston signed former MVP candidate and elite defensive third baseman Alex Bregman. Devers is not the best defender in the world, so they asked him to move off third base. That request was not met with enthusiasm.

Devers did end up moving to designated hitter, but the fracture grew when the Red Sox then asked him to move again to first base after Triston Casas went down with injury.

It appears as though Devers would have been fine with a switch earlier in the offseason, but clearly felt like there was not enough time for him to learn a brand new position in the middle of the year. Or at least that it was unfair to ask him after the debacle this offseason.

The relationship was strained enough that the team ended up trading Devers to the Giants back in June, despite being in just the second year of a 10-year, $313.3 million superstar contract.

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San Francisco gave up a package of James Tibbs III, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and Jose Bello. It's a lot to give up for anyone, but really didn't seem like too steep of a price for Devers.

Tibbs is the only player where it feels like the Giants are missing out on someone huge. His best case scenario, though, is eventually turning into someone like Devers.

The 22-year-old has posted a .244/.347/.317 slash line over 11 games with his new organization, being moved up to Double-A for the first time.

As for Devers, the start with his new club has been rocky, but there are few doubts that he will end up being a great contributor for years to come.

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Over his first 12 games with San Francisco, he has posted a .217/.333/.391 slash line with two home runs and eight walks drawn.

For more Giants news, head over to Giants On SI.


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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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