The Boston Red Sox’s primary reason for trading Rafael Devers had little to do with on-field production. But they still hope they got good players in return.

Devers was shipped to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in exchange for four players, none of whom are currently active for the Red Sox. Reliever Jordan Hicks is on the injured list, while outfielder James Tibbs and pitcher Jose Bello are a long way from their major league debuts.

That leaves left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, who many considered the headliner of the trade. Harrison, 23, was scheduled to pitch for the Giants on the day of the trade, and it caused a visceral reaction among fans when he was optioned to Triple-A immediately afterward.

However, as emotions have cooled off, the Red Sox have spelled out their reasoning for momentarily demoting the young southpaw.

Justin Willard, the Red Sox’s director of pitching, recently hinted that Harrison is only likely to be down in Triple-A for “a couple of weeks” while he reworks his arsenal with input from the Boston staff. And Willard also shared an optimistic prediction for Harrison’s future with the organization.

“He’s going to be a huge piece for the Boston Red Sox for not only now, but hopefully for the next five, six years,” Willard said, per Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive. “There’s really big potential here. I’m really excited about the kid, and maybe just a fresh start somewhere else will help him and get him going in the right direction.”

During his time in San Francisco, Harrison showcased a fastball that topped 95 miles per hour on a good day and featured elite arm-side run. His secondary pitches have lagged behind, though, which has the Red Sox making some adjustments we’ll get to see someday soon in a big-league ballpark.

“That fastball is real, it’s elite, it’s velo, it’s left handed,“ Willard said. ”[We’re] really excited to build kind of the arsenal around that, making that the main event, and then [determine] what are the pitches he needs to be to have supplemental to that.”

The Red Sox may have some other motivation for keeping Harrison in Triple-A as well. They’ll gain an extra year of club control if he’s there beyond Jul. 4, according to Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.

There will always be hurt feelings over the Devers situation, but Harrison becoming a front-line starter would do wonders for morale in Boston.

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