Digesting the Rafael Devers trade

Rafael Devers was 1-for-3 with a walk on Sunday for the Red Sox. The hit was a fifth-inning solo home run (his 15th of the season) off of Yankees ace Max Fried. Boston would win the game, 2-0, completing a three-game sweep of New York.

The Sox had won five straight and sat just a half-game out of the last Wild Card spot in the American League with play ending on Sunday.

Much was about to change.

It would be an understatement to call this season tumultuous for Devers.

The troubles began during the offseason when the Red Sox found themselves deep in negotiations with free agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Nobody from the organization had thought to talk to their incumbent third baseman first and with eight years remaining on a 10-year contract extension (in which he’d been promised he’d remain at 3B), Devers seemed to take it all personally.

Devers eventually put the hurt feelings aside and stepped into the DH role he was being asked to fill. He got off to a slow start in the season’s initial weeks, but quickly turned things around and has been one of the AL’s best hitters.

Then Triston Casas went down with an injury, opening a hole at first base. The team asked Devers to play the position and, once again, problems ensued. Then the issues became more public. Devers was openly critical of the Craig Breslow-led front office, while the team increasingly painted Devers as the selfish one who wouldn’t do “what’s best for the team.”

Owner John Henry even made a rare appearance, joining the team on the road in Kansas City to talk with his unhappy superstar. It didn’t seem to make any difference.

All the turmoil came to an abrupt end on Sunday night, as The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey writes:

Boston agreed to trade Devers to the San Francisco Giants for a four-player return — including right-handed pitchers Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello, left-hander Kyle Harrison, and outfielder James Tibbs III. Word of the deal started to become public shortly after 6 PM (just in time for the team to pull Devers off the plane).

The immediate reaction from most was shock and surprise. The more I’ve sat with the details, the more underwhelmed I am with Boston’s return.

Hicks first made a name for himself as a hard-throwing reliever with the Cardinals. Over his five seasons in St. Louis, he posted a 3.98 ERA (102 ERA+) with 233 strikeouts over 219.1 IP. The Cards dealt him at the 2023 trade deadline to Toronto (for right-handers Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein).

San Francisco signed Hicks that following offseason intent on putting him in the starting rotation. His first season in the new role was serviceable, though not great: 109.2 IP, 4.10 ERA, 96 K, 47 BB, 0.9 WAR.

This year the early results were worse (6.47 ERA in 48.2 IP, -1.0 WAR), with Hicks splitting time between the rotation and bullpen before landing on the injured list in early June (right toe inflammation).

Hicks, 28, is earning $12.5M each year of his deal (which runs through the 2027 season).

How Boston chooses to utilize his live arm (his fastball velocity averages more than 97 mph) remains to be seen, but Hicks likely fits best in the bullpen as a late-inning option ahead of Aroldis Chapman — effectively filling the role Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten were expected to handle before each landed on the IL. There’s little need to push him into the starting rotation, given the other options the Red Sox have there.

That includes Harrison.

Harrison was a Bay Area kid growing up so when the Giants selected him out of high school in the 3rd round of the 2020 Draft, it was a big story. The local kid was going to get a chance to become a pro in his backyard.

He rose quickly through the minors. Harrison also became a regular on top prospect lists, ranking in the Top 100 before each of the 2022-24 seasons while also getting invited to two All-Star Futures Games.

Harrison, who’ll turn 24 in August, has spent most of the last three seasons bouncing between the majors and Triple-A. He has, however, about a full season’s of work at the major league level under his belt. Harrison posted a 4.48 ERA (88 ERA+) over 182.2 IP, with 178 Ks and 62 BB.

With just over a year of service time on an MLB roster, Harrison could be under Red Sox control for at least four more seasons. Boston assigned him to Triple-A Worcester initially.

While Boston likely knows what they’re getting in Hicks and Harrison, the other two pieces of the return are wild cards.

Tibbs enjoyed a successful career with the Florida State Seminoles, batting .338/.462/.685 with 55 home runs over his three years in college. The Giants selected Tibbs with the 13th-overall pick in last summer’s draft, though there were many at the time who felt the pick was a reach. Scouts questioned whether Tibbs could ever be anything more than a replacement-level defender in a corner outfield.

Tibbs has done little to change that thinking at the pro level and while he’s hit, posting a .246/.379/.478 line over 256 PA at High-A this year, he’s striking out nearly 25% of his plate appearances. MLB Pipeline had Tibbs ranked as the Giants’ fourth-best prospect.

Bello, meanwhile, was an international amateur free agent signing before the 2023 season. He’s only thrown 18.0 IP outside of the Dominican Summer League.

Boston received an intriguing left-hander in Harrison, a likely overpaid reliever in Hicks, and a pair of lottery tickets in Tibbs and Bello. Ultimately, the biggest piece of this return for the Red Sox may be the cost savings and peace of mind that they can all move forward.

Originally signed as a 16-year-old international amateur free agent in 2013, Devers had been the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox and he appeared in more than 1,000 games over his nine years with the team. Devers had, unquestionably, developed into the face of the Boston franchise and he was awarded with the largest contract in franchise history. Perhaps that’s what made the discontent between him and the team such a big deal publicly.

Both sides are to blame for the deterioration of this relationship. Both sides needed a change.

San Francisco has aggressively tried to add a power hitter to their lineup over the last decade. The Giants haven’t had a player hit 30+ home runs since 2004 (Barry Bonds hit 45). The club has been active on the free agent market — making aggressive efforts to recruit and sign players such as Bryce Harper, Carlos Correa, and Aaron Judge — only to fall short each time.

By adding Devers, they finally have their power hitter. San Fran is assuming the entirety of his remaining contract, too, which amounts to roughly $255M over the remaining 8+ years.

A career .279/.349/.510 (129 OPS+) hitter over his nine years in Boston, there’s little reason to question why the Giants wanted to add him to their lineup. The question exists, however, where he will play defensively. San Fran has a similar concern to what Devers was facing in Boston this season — namely another third baseman on the roster who happens to be far superior defensively than Devers.

Matt Chapman is on the IL with a sprained hand and likely won’t be back until the end of the month, meaning Devers could step in and play third for a few weeks initially. Chapman is one of the best defensive players in the sport though and no manager in baseball would bench him in favor of Devers.

Devers could slide over to first base (a move he didn’t want to even consider with Boston), but that might not be ideal for the Giants with top prospect Bryce Eldridge waiting in the wings at Triple-A. Devers, once again, seems ticketed to spend most of his time at DH.

8 years, $255M for a full-time DH seems less than ideal.

The Giants likely aren’t parting with anything they’ll miss to make this deal happen. Harrison shows promise, but the club has starting depth and could afford to move him without harming their chances to compete this season.

Gage Wood throws third CWS no-hitter

Texas’s Jim Ehrler in 1950 and Oklahoma State’s Jim Wixson in 1960 had been the only two no-hitters in the 78-year history of the College World Series before Monday. Arkansas’s Gage Wood added himself to the list with an incredible performance on the mound against Murray State.

Murray State and Arkansas had each lost their first games of the CWS, making Monday’s matchup a must-win if they wanted any hope of avoiding elimination. Wood embraced the challenge.

The 21-year-old right-hander was dominant throughout the game, striking out a school-record 19 batters while not allowing a hit. Murray State’s lone baserunner came on a hit-by-pitch in the 8th inning.

MLB Pipeline ranks Wood at no. 50 on their pre-draft rankings and he’ll likely be a first-round selection in next month’s draft.

For the no. 3-ranked Razorbacks, the win means they survive another day. Arkansas will play next on Tuesday versus the loser of Monday’s LSU/UCLA matchup (the game was in a weather delay as of 10:15 PM EST).

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• Jarrod Saltalamacchia spent a dozen years in the big leagues, batting a combined .232/.306/.408 (91 OPS+) with 110 home runs. The former catcher and member of the 2018 World Series-winning Red Sox will manage the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League this summer. The CCBL season began last week.

• The Nationals called up their third-ranked prospect, third baseman Brady House, on Monday. He made his debut batting sixth and was 0-for-3 with a walk. House had hit .304/.353/.519 with 13 home runs in 65 games at Triple-A.