Red Sox Reportedly Just Made Rafael Devers 'Substantially Improved Offer'
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For the Boston Red Sox to appease their fanbase, they'll have to ink long-term deals with two members of their core this offseason.
Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts will opt out of his contract in a couple of weeks and third baseman Rafael Devers' contract expires after the 2023 season.
Boston reportedly is starting to work on the latter of the two issues.
"As we reported yesterday, our sources confirm Boston began the negotiation process with Rafael Devers," MLB reporter Yancen Pujols tweeted Tuesday. "The senior executive did not go to Samaná to share a birthday cake or sing happy birthday.
"A substantially improved offer was made versus the previous one in spring training. That said, an agreement is not yet certain. These are early stages of the negotiation, but Boston’s leadership is determined to avoid the start of spring training or the season without having the Dominican under a long-term contract."
It's been heavily reported that assistant general manager Eddie Romero visited Devers in the Dominican Republic, but the subject of the meeting has been surrounded by conflicting reports.
While Pujols stands firm that the Red Sox are in fact negotiating with Devers for a long-term deal, MassLive's Chris Cotillo has been adamant that the meeting was purely a "regular check-in/birthday visit."
As far as who to believe, DraftKings' Jared Carrabis might have put it best.
"In regards to the Rafael Devers rumors and the conflicting reports, one side is directly connected to Devers saying the extension talks have started. The other side is not connected to Devers and said that the Red Sox flew to the Dominican to sing happy birthday to him."
We'll see who wins the source-off, but fans should be rooting heavily for Pujols in his clash with Cotillo.
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