Red Sox Urged To Take This Stance On Rafael Devers By MLB Insider

There's a lot to figure out still with the hottest slugger on the squad

May 8, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers (11) hits a home run against the Texas Rangers in the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Rafael Devers has been positively crushing the ball of late. But when the games end, the constant speculation about his position and attitude towards the team resume.

Devers made it very clear on Thursday that he doesn't want to play first base, and lambasted chief baseball officer Craig Breslow for requesting that he do so. It's an issue that has all sorts of nuances, yet most folks have seemingly chosen a side.

In fact, Major League Baseball insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has even weighed in now on the debate. And though it was Rosenthal who advocated for the Red Sox to sign Alex Bregman in the offseason and move Devers off third base, he wasn't in their corner on this go-around.

On Monday, Rosenthal wrote a piece titled "The Red Sox should just let Rafael Devers DH and figure out the rest themselves," which doesn't need much more of an introduction.

"The Boston Red Sox were perfectly justified in asking Rafael Devers to vacate third base for Alex Bregman and become a designated hitter. They are far less justified in asking Devers to switch again and, this time, play first base," Rosenthal wrote.

"It’s not Devers’ fault the Red Sox were negligent in finding an alternative for first baseman Triston Casas, who missed nearly four months in 2024 with a strained left rib cage and is out for the rest of 2025 with a ruptured left patella tendon... In reality, by agreeing to such a change in the middle of a season, Devers would risk injury, offensive regression and embarrassment."

With the benefit of hindsight, sure, it would have been awesome to have a more capable backup to Casas on the roster at the beginning of the season. But considering they would have had to sign a free agent better than Romy González or Abraham Toro to be a full-time backup, their odds weren't great.

That's neither here nor there, though. The Red Sox have to make a decision about what to do with Devers for the next five months. And it seems like they still have at least a hope to put him at first base. We'll see in time whether Rosenthal is proven right.

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