Red Sox Fans Still Lamenting Rafael Devers Trade Need Reality Check

Anyone else seeing these numbers?

Mar 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) walks to the dugout after striking out during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Boston Red Sox fans are unhappy with their team's slow start -- understandably, of course. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is taking the brunt of the criticism, and it's not hard to see why.

This Red Sox lineup is underperforming, lacks power, and is difficult to piece together based on various scheduling needs. A lot of the problems are semingly rooted in the Rafael Devers trade with the San Francisco Giants last summer, which was unpopular at the time and seems to be providing very little return on investment.

Sitting here and defending the Devers trade wholeheartedly would be a fool's errand, especially if you believe it wouldn't have happened without Alex Bregman spending a year in Boston. But if it's your instinct to hit the panic button less than a month into the regular season, at least take a look across the country first.

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Devers floundering in San Francisco, too

Mar 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Eighteen games into his own season, Devers and the Giants are seemingly even worse off than the Red Sox. Only three teams have worse records than the Sox at 7-11, and the Giants, at 6-12, have the worst ledger in baseball to this point.

Devers' frustration boiled over during Wednesday's loss to the Cincinnati Reds, as he slammed his bat following a second-inning strikeout against Rhett Lowder. He finished the afternoon 2-for-4, but the Giants fell 8-3 for their league-leading 12th loss.

On the season, Devers is slashing .229/.280/.329 with two home runs and six RBIs, and only three qualified Red Sox hitters (Caleb Durbin, Jarren Duran, Trevor Story) have lower OPS figures at the moment.

Putting Boston's struggles into perspective

Apr 14, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) looks on after a bulk is called on himself against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Could things be totally different for both Devers and the Red Sox if the trade hadn't happened? Absolutely. Plus, Breslow is taking all sorts of flak for dealing away the top two pieces he got back from the Giants: Kyle Harrison, who is pitching well through three starts with the Milwaukee Brewers, and James Tibbs III, who has a 1.206 OPS in Triple-A with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But if the trade had never happened, the Red Sox could absolutely still be four to six games under .500 through this point in the season. That's baseball, and as bleak as things may look on Apr. 16, they could change on a dime.

Of course, baseball also dictates that writing this article could be a terrible look in hindsight. Perspective is great to have, but it also stays in constant motion.