The Red Sox opened spring training in 2025 with one of the top sluggers in baseball on their roster in Rafael Devers. Just a few months later, the then-28-year-old Devers was shipped out to the West Coast with Boston trading Devers to the San Francisco Giants following a tumultuous stretch between the Red Sox and their former franchise player. Speaking to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham on Sunday, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner was candid when asked to reflect on Devers’ final months with Boston. “I don’t like to speak ill of any player. I’d like to say that he’s a wonderful person,” Werner told Abraham. “But, of course, when we had an injury at first base his unwillingness to play that position was extremely discouraging.” The strife between the Red Sox and Devers began last February after the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman with Boston expecting the two-time World Series champion to take over at third base and shift Devers to DH. Moving Devers who led the AL in errors every season at third from 2018-24 off third and having him become a full-time DH would seemingly benefit all parties. But Devers was upfront about his displeasure with being moved off the hot corner. “Third base is my position,” Devers told reporters in Fort Myers last February. “It’s what I’ve played. I don’t know what their plans are. I know we had a conversation. I made it clear, kind of what my desires were and whatever happens from here, I don’t know.” While Devers eventually relented and moved to DH once the season began, things unraveled once again after first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury in May. Despite the vacancy at first, Devers refused to move from DH back to the infield calling out Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow in the process. “I know I’m a ballplayer but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers said last May. “In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH. So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.” A little over a month later, Devers was traded. “It was a discouraging episode,” Werner said. “Just pick up a glove.” Speaking to reporters from Fort Myers on Sunday, Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy acknowledged that the franchise likely would have handled things differently last winter and spring given that the end result was Devers being dealt to San Francisco.
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2026/02/16/boston-red-sox-rafael-devers-mlb-baseball-tom-werner-trade-giants/
‘Just pick up a glove’: Tom Werner was disappointed in Rafael Devers saga
