BOSTON — As the Boston Red Sox settled in for a charter flight to Seattle, the man at the center of a four-month drama was nowhere to be found.

Rafael Devers had grown into the face of the franchise, doing so over the course of nine seasons and more than 1,000 games. He had been raised in the organization after signing as a baby-faced 16-year-old in 2013. He had played for just one organization and won the World Series in 2018. Eventually, he earned the largest contract in team history.

But Devers became disillusioned with the team over its multiple requests for him to change defensive positions. His increasingly vocal comments about the front office and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, in particular, added to the tension.

It all came to an end on a stunning Sunday night, with the Red Sox shellshocked on a cross-country flight, and with Devers still on the ground, climbing into an Uber.

The Red Sox sent Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-hander Jordan Hicks, left-hander Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello, a franchise-altering blockbuster deal that seemed to catch the entire baseball world by surprise.

Just three hours earlier, music was blaring in the home clubhouse at Fenway Park, as the Red Sox celebrated a series sweep of the New York Yankees. Devers and the Red Sox were packing their bags for a long flight to Seattle.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Devers strolled to the podium to answer questions about the sweep. He had homered in the finale.

“It feels good,” Devers said through a team translator. “We’re playing good baseball and even more when the young kids are here, they’re learning how to play winning baseball and that’s very good for us.”

He was asked if the drama of recent months was behind him. Devers, who often wears his emotions on sleeve, offered only a straightforward answer. If he had already known about the bombshell in the works, he was uncharacteristically guarded about it.

“That’s in the past,” said Devers, who then boarded the team bus that left for the airport at 5:15 p.m.

By 7:05 p.m., the Red Sox flight to Seattle was taking off without Devers, and an era in franchise history had officially come to an unceremonious end.

The last remaining member of Boston’s 2018 World Series championship team, Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million deal with the Red Sox in January 2023. At the time, the club had badly botched their negotiations with franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts, then let All-Star and fan favorite Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency to San Diego.

With two homegrown stars from their 2018 team gone, the Red Sox made signing Devers a priority as he approached free agency.

Shortly before Christmas in 2022, principal owner John Henry flew to the Dominican Republic along with members of the Red Sox front office, including then chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, to meet with Devers and his agents. They put on the full-court press to retain Devers.

The meeting resulted in the largest contract in Red Sox history. The franchise’s desire to keep him showed in the length of his deal, which had Devers under team control through 2034.

For the first two years after signing the extension, the team floundered in mediocrity. Though Devers did his part on offense, he largely remained the same player even as those in the front office encouraged him to take on more of a leadership role. Devers never wanted to be a vocal presence. But in the absence of Betts and Bogaerts, he was forced into the role and slowly took on more of its responsibilities.

Still, it seemed that Devers never truly embraced being the face of the franchise he’d grown to become.

But at the same time, Devers became more outspoken over the past year or so. In 2024, he began spring training by declaring that the front office needed to bring in more star players. A year later, when the team signed Gold Glove winning third baseman Alex Bregman, Devers didn’t hold back his frustration.

Devers proclaimed he was a third baseman and repeatedly said he would not serve as designated hitter. Later in the spring, he acquiesced. Those close to Devers noted that part of the softening of his stance came from getting to know Bregman, and seeing first-hand the newly signed free agent’s impact on the club.

That détente was short-lived. Tensions boiled over again last month when Breslow asked Devers to consider playing first base after Triston Casas’ season-ending knee injury. Devers responded by calling out Breslow.

“They’ve told me I’m a little hard-headed,” Devers said at the time. “And they already asked me to change (to DH) once, and this time, I don’t think I can be as flexible.”

The next day Henry, Breslow and Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy made an unscheduled trip to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora. Henry would not speak to the media afterwards but relayed to Breslow it was a productive conversation.

Though the exact conversation in that meeting remains unclear, Breslow made sure to note that the group discussed what it means to be a teammate. It was clear that some in the front office had grown tired of Devers voicing his displeasure with the club through the media.

Said Breslow: “We felt like it was important, based on the situation that unfolded yesterday, to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox and that is being great teammates for each other.”

In the month since that meeting, Devers had made himself scarce. He’d spoken to the media just once from then until taking the podium on Sunday, when he insisted that tensions were in the past.

Apparently, from the Red Sox’s perspective, that wasn’t the case

So the conclusion to this saga finally came, with Devers in an Uber bound for a new future, and the Red Sox on a cross-country flight to begin a West Coast swing. It will include a stop this weekend in San Francisco, where an awkward reunion with Devers now awaits.

(Top photo of Devers during 2018 World Series: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey