Red Sox $313.5 Million Superstar Changes Tune on Refusal to Give Up 3rd Bas

when the Boston Red Sox capped off a “Grade A” offseason by signing former Houston Astros two-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal, the natural next move was to reassign the team’s superstar slugger, entering the second season of his 10-year, $313.5 million team record contract, to somewhere other than third.

For Rafael Devers, a reluctance to give up his position may be understandable. The 28-year-old has played all but 25 of his 955 big league games at third base. So when he was asked about moving to a full-time designated hitter role to make way for the defensively superior Bregman — last year’s American League Gold Glove winner at third base — he flatly refused.

That was in mid-February. By mid-March, he changed his tune.

On Thursday, according to The Boston Globe, Devers said he is open to making the switch to the DH role. The three-time All-Star, after getting in four at-bats in a simulated game at Boston’s spring training home of JetBlue Park, told reporters that he wanted to clear up his stance on the position switch — and sounded a much more conciliatory note.

“It’s not my decision. I don’t call the shots around here. I’ll go out there and do what I need to do,” he said via a translator, as quoted by veteran Globe reporter Peter Abraham. “I just want to help the team win. Whatever position I’m playing, I always take these things as a competition and a way to get better. That’s just how I see it. I’m just ready to help the team win.”

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In an earlier interview, on Wednesday with independent Spanish-language sports journalist Nicole Báez, Devers also made sure that fans knew he bore no ill-will toward his competitor for the third-base spot, Bregman.

“We’re teammates, we’re friends. He’s earned the affection of everyone here,” Devers told Báez. “He’s a great person, and we know the kind of player he is. He’s here to help the team. We’re all positive here on the team, and what we want is to win.”

Devers also told Báez that physically he feels “pretty good” and planned to make his spring training debut in Saturday’s game at JetBlue Park against the Atlanta Braves.

Whether Devers will play third base or DH in that game is not yet clear. Despite his earlier insistence that he would only play third, he has not played a single out at the position, or any other position, so far this spring — with just two weeks to go before the Red Sox open their season against the Rangers in Texas.