After the season-ending injury to Triston Casas, the Boston Red Sox were in desperate need of a new first baseman. With no great backup within the organization, the Red Sox turned to Rafael Devers to see if he’d suit up at first. However, Devers declined, and the Red Sox had to pivot elsewhere.

Fan favorite Red Sox player Kevin Millar from the 2004 World Series run called out Devers on the Play Tessie podcast for his decision not to play first base.

Millar compared Devers’ situation with his time playing alongside Manny Ramirez, and talked about how the Red Sox players should approach Devers about playing first base.

“You play where it helps that day for the team. There’s a lot of whispering, whether Raffy’s upset with the front office. That’s okay, we dealt with it with Manny. Raffy’s not a bad dude at all, he’s a very sweet kid. You just gotta get to him and say, ‘dude, I need you to play first.’ Now, if he says no to Jarren Duran, or Rob Refsyner, or Garrett Crochet, or Alex Bregman, then it becomes weird.

Millar’s overarching point is that Devers can be upset with the organization and the front office, but he needs to be there for his teammates. His point is that if Devers declines to play first base if his teammates ask him to, then it becomes something to be concerned about.

But with the uncertainty, and the front office potentially setting things off with Devers in the offseason, there is an unlikely chance Devers slides over to first base.