Red Sox Boss Hoping To Salvage Value From Rafael Devers Trade Debacle

There's no bringing Rafael Devers back to the Boston Red Sox; both parties had a hand in burning that bridge. But the Red Sox are still affected every day by the ripple effects of trading him.

From the San Francisco Giants, the Red Sox got four players and the relief of not having to pay Devers the final $255 million on his contract. One of those four players has already been traded (for Dustin May, a big yikes), and two have spent the majority of their time in the organization as minor leaguers.

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The biggest disappointment of all, however, has been fireballing reliever Jordan Hicks, who posted an ERA of 8.20 and negative-1.1 bWAR in only 21 appearances as a Red Sox. Boston took on the remainder of Hicks' contract rather than paying down some of Devers' money to the Giants, and so far, that looks like a net negative.

Why Red Sox aren't giving up on Hicks

However, as Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently expressed, Boston isn't giving up on Hicks. In fact, the 29-year-old will likely get a chance to prove he can play a key role in the late innings next year alongside closer Aroldis Chapman and setup man Garrett Whitlock.

“We’ll continue to try to give him some consistency as a reliever and get the best version out of him,” Breslow said, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “The stuff has never been a question. And we’ve seen glimpses of it as recently as last year.

"He’s a guy that can potentially work alongside Whit and help and bridge the gap to Chappy.”

The simplest reason the Red Sox aren't giving up on Hicks yet is that they feel a financial obligation not to. He's making a guaranteed $12.5 million in each of the next two seasons, and no team is going to let the Red Sox off the hook for that.

However, it's also worthwhile to give a pitcher who regularly tops 100 mph one more chance to figure things out after an offseason of adjusting to his new surroundings. The Red Sox are also giving Hicks the clarity of knowing he'll be pitching out of the bullpen after originally trying to start games for the Giants.

And if someone else gets injured, Hicks might suddenly be thrust into eighth or ninth-inning duties without warning.

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