Rafael Devers … is a Giant? The Red Sox just … sent him away? This is the sort of deal that you don’t really see that much in baseball anymore: It almost feels like more of an NBA trade, doesn’t it? It sure had the shock of one. It’s one of those trades that makes your jaw drop. Though, like many great trades, the more you start to think about it … the more sense it kind of makes.
But it is a massive risk, really, for everyone involved. Here are five off-the-cuff, back-of-napkin takeaways from one of the most unexpected, seemingly out-of-nowhere baseball trades in many a moon.
1) The Giants have their star.
They went after Aaron Judge. They went after Shohei Ohtani. They went after Carlos Correa (and briefly got him). And they fell short every time. The Giants roster, really since the Buster Posey playing era ended, has felt like a bunch of quality supporting players surrounding a void where a star was supposed to be. Well: That star is here now. (And it apparently took Posey to get him.) You rarely see stars of this caliber being traded, and you definitely never seem them traded when they’re as hot as Devers is right now. Devers is a fantastic hitter, and has been for quite a few years, but he is in fact better right now than he has ever been. He has put up the highest OPS-plus of his career (149), his OBP is an all-time-best .401, he leads the AL in walks (56) and he has been the rock of a Red Sox offense that has a lot of young players and is missing their top offseason acquisition in Alex Bregman. He is an absolute stud, one who is still only 28 years old. The Giants have been desperate for someone to build around. He’s now here.
2) That is a very expensive DH.
That’s what he is, right? Right? The Giants just gave Matt Chapman a big contract extension, so obviously third base is booked for years to come, and, well, while the Giants certainly need a first baseman -- it’s Dominic Smith now after LaMonte Wade Jr. was sent to Anaheim -- well, if you want to be the person in the Giants front office to have that conversation with him on his first day in town, please, feel free. For Devers’ current production, the $31.35 million he's getting paid is well worth it. But will it be well worth it in 2033, which is when that contract finally ends? When he’s in his late 30s? Now that Devers is locked into DH, he’ll be there for a long, long time. This is what the Red Sox were worried about, with the positional issues the only reason they ever thought about trading him in the first place. Those worries are now the Giants’.
3) The Red Sox better hope this doesn’t end up feeling like the Mookie trade.
We might end up having “Is Rafael Devers on a Hall of Fame path?” discussions over the next few years, depending on how healthy he can stay, but if he does end up making the Hall, well, it’s going to be pretty wild that the Red Sox -- not the Marlins, not the Expos, the Red Sox -- traded away two future Hall of Famers over a five-year stretch. Now, obviously, the circumstances are different. Betts is a better player, there are different people in charge, the Red Sox have certainly shown they’re willing to spend, and Devers didn’t exactly endear himself to the organization of late. But considering one of the reasons they gave Devers such a big extension in 2023 was because of fan frustration that they had traded Betts … well, shipping him away three years later has, how do they say, bad optics. Also, what does this tell young Red Sox stars like Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer? Are they going to get early extensions? Will they even want one? Will they trust they will really stay if they do?
4) Alex Cora just got a lot more pressure on himself.
There is always a healthy discussion about what the job of a manager is in today’s analytical front office world. Are they just guys who make out the lineups and talk to the press? Are they really in charge? How much power do they actually have? There’s one thing everyone agrees is really important, though: Running a happy clubhouse. You know: managing. It might not have been Cora’s decision to keep asking (or not asking) Devers to switch (and not switch) positions, but you can make a good argument that it’s his job to massage the situation in a way that does not have the team’s star player (who, again, is crushing the ball right now) at such odds with the front office that they trade him away. This has already been an up-and-down start for these Red Sox. We have seen this front office and ownership group be, well, let’s say “tempestuous,” or maybe “reactionary.” Cora has to figure out how to be the public face of the organization, to show that he can run a happy clubhouse and to win … which he’s now going to have to do without his best hitter.
5) This is already the trade of the Deadline. (Right?)
I know a lot of people who thought the biggest name that would be moved at the July 31 Trade Deadline would be Sandy Alcantara. Surprise! It’s the middle of June, and it’s tough to see how there could possibly be a bigger deal than the one we just witnessed. (I mean, it would be a big deal if Jordan Hicks got traded on his own, and I didn’t even bother mentioning his involvement in this trade until just now.) We’re going to spend so much time discussing trade possibilities for the next few weeks, and in a fevered rush in the days leading up to the Deadline. But how in the world are we going to top this? It’s sort of impossible to imagine. Then again: It was sort of impossible to imagine this trade too. And here we are.