In a stunning turn of events coming just hours after finishing off a momentum-building sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park, the Red Sox traded three-time All-Star Rafael Devers to the Giants on Sunday. Going to Boston are two pitchers from San Francisco’s major league staff, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, 2024 first-round pick James Tibbs III and 20-year-old right-hander Jose Bello.
The Giants will be picking up the entirely of the nearly $260 million owed to Devers through 3033. It’s a major commitment to a player who is going to wind up remaining a designated hitter or maybe becoming a first baseman on a team that already has a top-flight third baseman in Matt Chapman. The Giants’ best prospect, Bryce Eldridge, is also a first baseman and should be ready to step in at some point next season.
Of course, it’s the bat of Devers that the Giants want. The 28-year-old launched his 15th homer Sunday and is batting .272/.401/.504 in 334 plate appearances. The Giants have had a hard time trying to sign power bats because of the difficulties of hitting in Oracle Park. Devers is used to having a tough time hitting homers to right in his home park, but Oracle is still worse than Fenway in that regard, and while Fenway takes away homers, it’s an outstanding offensive ballpark otherwise. Oracle isn’t. Statcast gives it the third lowest park factor for left-handers of the 28 active major league parks since 2023. Fenway is the second highest for lefties. Devers has been very successful at going the other way and taking aim at the Green Monster in Fenway. Opposite field homers and doubles will be harder to come by now.
So, Devers is likely to lose a fair amount of fantasy value with the trade. At least the Giants lineup on the whole has been better than expected; they’re right in the middle of the pack in runs scored even with their ballpark holding them back. Devers’ addition should mean much less of Dominic Smith in the San Francisco lineup, though it will be very interesting to see if Devers steps in at first. Wilmer Flores has been great as the Giants’ primary DH this season, but with the knee issues he’s had since last year, he can only play so much first base without breaking down.
Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos gain a little fantasy value with Devers’ bad added to the mix. Those holding on to Flores might want to look elsewhere now.
With Devers gone, the Red Sox have a lot more flexibility in their lineup, though it’s not needed at this moment with Wilyer Abreu on the IL due to an oblique strain. Once Abreu returns, the Red Sox could rotate Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran between left field and DH. Duran has been talked up as a trade candidate because of the crowd in the outfield, but he seems likely to stay put now. Until Duran gets back, Rob Refsnyder could do some DHing against right-handers.
This also opens the door for Masataka Yoshida to be more of a factor in the second half. Coming off surgery on his throwing shoulder, Yoshida has been working on a return to the outfield, but he seems to be making slow progress there. Perhaps the Red Sox could speed up his timetable to get back to hitting now that they have the DH spot open. Before being shut down, Yoshida seemed just fine with the bat this spring. It’s possible he’ll offer some mixed-league value in the second half.
The return for Devers isn’t what Red Sox fans would have hoped for, but ownership has to like it, considering that the team didn’t have to eat a portion of Devers’ contract. Boston did take on salary with Hicks, who is on the IL with an inflamed toe, but he could prove pretty helpful while making about $31 million through 2027. He had an ugly 6.55 ERA in nine starts before being moved to the pen last month, but his peripherals suggested he deserved a sub-4.00 ERA. The Red Sox might just leave him in the pen anyway. If he remains healthy, he could be a perfectly fine setup man and maybe a closer candidate next year.
Harrison was a top prospect two years ago, but he turned into a disappointment with his velocity down some last year. This season, though, he’s throwing all of his pitches harder and has been averaging right around 95 mph with his fastball. If he keeps it, he should prove to be an average or above average starter. Alas, his fantasy ceiling does take a hit with the ballpark switch.
Tibbs, a Florida State product, was the 13th overall choice in last year’s draft, going one pick after Boston’s own selection of Braden Montgomery (since traded to the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet deal). He was hitting .245/.377/.480 as a 22-year-old in high-A ball. A right fielder now, he’d seem to fit better at first base. Bello, 20, was signed out of the Dominican Republic two years ago and currently has a 28/3 K/BB in 18 innings over eight relief appearances in rookie ball.
As much as the Red Sox will miss Devers in their lineup for the short term, this does give them much more flexibility for 2026 and beyond. They will have Triston Casas and Yoshida back next year, but they’re clearly not committed to Yoshida as a regular and they had already seemed to sour some on Casas before his season-ending knee injury. Perhaps they’ll try for Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber in free agency this winter or pursue a first baseman in trade. They could also work out a new deal with Alex Bregman. He can opt out this winter, but he’d probably rather stay on a long-term pact.
For now, the Red Sox offense takes a hit, probably leading to a little less fantasy value for Duran and Bregman. However, Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela get boosts here, since they are quite a bit more secure as lineup fixtures going forward. It’s a whole new era in Boston, for better or worse.
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