According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, Rafael Devers has rejected the Boston Red Sox’s proposal to move him back into the field. This time, GM Craig Breslow wanted him to play first base. Devers stated that he doesn’t think Breslow asking him to move from DH to first base is the most “appropriate decision” to make.
Rafael Devers Doesn’t Want to Play First Base
Rafael Devers, 28, is in his eighth full season in the majors, all with the Red Sox. Since Alex Bregman signed with Boston on February 15th, the media was questioning who would play at third. Bregman won the job, with Devers moving to DH, amid some issues that occurred in the spring. Before the decision, Devers was asked about wanting to move to DH. He did not want to budge, but knew that the best decision was to move. He obliged, and things seemingly were great with the 2025 season looking bright for Beantown.
But then came his infamous 0-for-19 hitless streak to begin the season. Many fans in Boston were rightfully annoyed about this, given that he was allegedly practicing in Florida since January. He did not play a game in spring training until March 17th, missing over two weeks of exhibition ball. Major leaguers need these games to get themselves back into the groove for the regular season, and Devers did not take advantage of it. However, he’s been slowly getting back to his old self, batting with an OPS of .834 and slugging six home runs.
Unfortunately, a tragic incident befell the Red Sox, as Triston Casas got bit by the injury bug. He tore his patellar tendon and is out for the rest of the season. Now, the Red Sox have been shuffling Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez at first base, along with a sprinkle of Trevor Story for one game. But for Boston, they need a permanent solution. One possibility was putting Devers at first base.
Devers’ Comments
However, Devers completely rejected this when Craig Breslow went to ask him about moving to first base. He refused, saying, “They can’t expect me to play every single position out there”, along with adding that they wanted him to “put away” his glove at third. This was seemingly enough, but he continued further, seemingly venting out his issues.
“I’m not certain what he has with me. He played ball, and I would like to think that he knows that changing positions, that isn’t easy. They put me in this situation, and they told me that they didn’t want to allow me to play any other position.” While confirming his frustrations about the whole ordeal, he feels like the front office should “do their jobs” and “hit the market” to find a substitute.
Emphasizing more about his feelings on the situation, he stated that the current regime does not keep its word and adapts on the fly. He believes that they’re “going back,” or in other words, reconsidering Devers being at DH due to Casas’ injury. The organization got frustrated with him, telling Devers that he’s a “little hard-headed”, and many fans agree. He confirmed he won’t be “as flexible” with wanting to move to any more positions.
But Devers doesn’t think so. He says, “They already asked me to change once.”, and that’s seemingly enough. But what Devers doesn’t understand is that players go down with injuries all the time. His teammates have no problem picking up the slack to do what’s best for the team. This is an awful look on his part, as this makes him look like a cancer to the clubhouse.
The Clubhouse Situation
Devers addressed the situation about the clubhouse and how he’s handling it. He said that the relationship he has with other players in the locker room is “great.” But that’s all he emphasized about this topic, then continued to rip Breslow for his “actions.” “I don’t understand some of the decisions that the GM makes. The next thing you know, someone in the outfield gets hurt and they want me to play in the outfield.”
Wrong Translation?
Despite all this drama, a few hours later, it seems like the translator is getting the attention now. There is now suspicion that Devers was saying something else in Spanish and that the translator didn’t do a great job. This is what he said in Spanish, according to an anonymous user on X:
“Después de que pasó lo que pasó con Casas, vinieron ante mí. Yo sé que soy un pelotero, pero tampoco puedo jugar todas las posiciones, no me puedo adaptar como cualquier otro pelotero a una posición. Si de jugar primera, saben que no va a jugar de una vez, pero no es muy buena la decisión”.
Translating this to English, it states: “After what happened with Casas, they came at me. I know I’m a baseball player, but I can’t play every position either. I can’t adapt to a position like any other player. If I want to play first, they know I won’t be playing right away, but it’s not a very good decision.”
This is getting weirder as the situation unfolds. This can back up some of the things that Devers has said, but it doesn’t cover all of what he said. To be fair, Devers could’ve said something to the translator since he understands English. But since he can’t speak it fluently, the translator is with him at these meetings. But sometimes, human error takes place, and this has just opened a whole can of worms for the Red Sox organization. They’re going to have to make amends fast.
Devers has been a career Red Sox player. When he extended with the team, signing an 11-year, $331 million deal, he was what fans wanted with Mookie Betts: a Red Sox legend for life. Unfortunately, this is slowly turning into a Manny Ramirez situation, where he would want out of Boston every two years. Is this a melodramatic thing to think? Probably not, because if the Red Sox don’t work it out with Devers, he’s trade bait. If that happens, Boston loses their third franchise player in less than a decade. Hopefully, he doesn’t suffer the same fate and finds it in his heart to work things out, but time will tell.
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