When the Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, they did it knowing they would be facing their disgruntled former player in just five days. That game arrived on Friday.
Taking the field only as a designated hitter, but with first base in his future, Devers failed to make his old team pay, going 0-for-5 at the plate in a 7-5 loss. He did receive a nice ovation before his first at-bat, though.
Devers’ hitless night wasn’t for lack of balls in play. He managed to lift a ball to the left-field wall in the third inning, but was robbed of an extra-base hit by former teammate Ceddane Rafaela.
Devers finished his night with his lone strikeout, swinging and missing at a 102-mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman. He is now 3-for-16 with one double four games into his Giants career.
Devers met with reporters before the game to discuss the reunion, though he mostly indicated a desire to move on after a very public falling out with the Red Sox front office.
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Devers was the longest-tenured player on the team and in the early years of a team-record 10-year, $313.5 million contract, but made his displeasure public in spring training when it became clear the Red Sox wanted to move him off third base in favor of new arrival Alex Bregman, a Gold Glover at the position.
The matter appeared to settle when Devers agreed to transition to designated hitter — a potentially temporary move given that Bregman can opt out of his deal this winter — but the hurt feelings came back when the Red Sox asked if he could cover first base after a season-ending injury to Triston Casas. Devers declined, then said a lot of things to reporters you can’t take back. Boston traded him a month later.
Rafael Devers didn’t want to play first base for the Red Sox. Or he didn’t want to say “yes” after how they asked him. (Photo by Darren Yamashita/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
(Darren Yamashita via Getty Images)
Speaking on Friday, Devers didn’t say much he hadn’t already said during his introduction with the Giants, but he did make one notable claim, via NBC Sports Boston:
“I would say that I put some good numbers up in Boston, and I think that I do feel that I have earned some respect,” Devers told reporters through an interpreter at Oracle Park. “If they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, yes, I would have played.”
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Obviously, the Red Sox weren’t going to ask Devers to play first base while Casas was still healthy. However, those comments show how much further this dispute went beyond a simple position change. As the Red Sox brass indicated the day after the trade, the conflict ultimately came down to communication and personality.
In the meantime, Devers has been taking grounders at first base since he arrived in San Francisco, but won’t make his debut at the position this weekend.
