06/15/25 08:05:00
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06/15 20:03 CDT Red Sox trade Rafael Devers to the Giants in a blockbuster deal
Red Sox trade Rafael Devers to the Giants in a blockbuster deal
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) --- The Boston Red Sox traded slugger Rafael Devers to the San
Francisco Giants on Sunday in a deal that could shake up pennant races on both
coasts.
The Giants sent right-hander Jordan Hicks, lefty Kyle Harrison, outfield
prospect James Tibbs III and minor league righty Jose Bello to the Red Sox for
the 28-year-old designated hitter, who had bristled at his demotion from third
base this year.
The Giants were one game behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers heading
into Sunday night's matchup between the NL West rivals. San Francisco shortstop
Willy Adames said on the ESPN broadcast that the team found out about 15
minutes before the game.
"Everybody's so excited," he said in an on-field interview while playing the
field in the second inning. "Me, personally, I'm like thrilled to have him on
the team. He's one of the best hitters in the game, and to have him on the
team, I think is going to help us do a lot of damage in the division. Obviously
we need a bat like him in this lineup."
A three-time All-Star who signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract with the
Red Sox in 2023, Devers is batting .272 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 73 games,
including a solo shot in Boston's 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on
Sunday that completed a three-game sweep.
But his relationship with the team began to deteriorate when the team signed
Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training and asked Devers
to move to DH; he balked before agreeing to the switch. When first baseman
Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached
Devers about playing the field and he declined, saying the front office "
should do their jobs " and look for another player.
A day after Devers' comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner
John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow
flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.
The situation became more difficult when Bregman sustained what the team called
a significant right quadriceps injury on May 23.
"Everybody around the league, I think, was paying attention to that. When any
team is having some kind of drama like that, with a player like Devers --- he
basically was the face of the franchise," Adames said before he was interrupted
by Tommy Edman's home run that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
"We're thrilled to have him. Everybody's excited. So we're going to make him
feel at home," Adames said. "I feel like it sends a message that we're going to
compete. That we're going to do whatever it takes to come over here and win the
division."
The Red Sox have won five out of six against the rival Yankees over the last
two weekends to improve to 37-36, but they are still fourth in the AL East, 6
1/2 games behind division-leading New York.
Devers was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2017. He
helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five
consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for
AL MVP five times.
Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent
Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season in a salary dump
-- just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a
franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.
But the Devers deal is perhaps most reminiscent of the 2004 midseason shakeup
when Boston traded disgruntled shortstop --- and fan favorite --- Nomar
Garciaparra to Minnesota.
The Red Sox went on to win the World Series that year, ending their 86-year
championship drought.
This is the latest big move by Buster Posey, a seven-time All-Star who took
over as San Francisco's president of baseball operations in September. He
signed Justin Verlander to a $15 million, one-year contract in January and
Adames to a $182 million, seven-year deal in December.
"It makes them better right now, for sure," Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw
said in a TV interview from the dugout at Dodger Stadium. "Buster Posey's
really doing it. Good for Buster over there. He's going for it. I'd consider
Raffy one of the top 10 hitters in the game, at worst. He's definitely a
game-changer. It will be interesting to see what position he plays over there."
Harrison, 23, is 9-9 with a 4.48 ERA and 178 strikeouts in 39 games for the
Giants over three seasons. Hicks, 28, was 5-12 with a 4.83 ERA and 139
strikeouts in 42 games over two seasons. Tibbs, 22, was the 13th overall pick
in last year's draft; he is hitting .246 with 12 homers and 32 RBIs in 57 games
for Single-A Eugene of the Northwest League this season. Bello, 20, is 1-0 with
a 2.00 ERA in eight games for the Giants' rookie league team in Scottsdale,
Arizona.
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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley and AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower
contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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