In fairness, Red Sox fans had to have seen this coming. Once the Petty Wars between Boston and Rafael Devers reached their height, it was only a matter of time the team would get burned in embarrassing fashion.
That happened on Tuesday. Well, it happened Sunday and Monday too, when the Sox traded Devers to the San Francisco Giants for a package of nothing players and then had Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy speak to the media in the most cringe presser ever.
The final blow will come this weekend when the Red Sox and Giants play each other, but Sox fans already want to punch another hole in their apartment wall after seeing Devers get introduced in San Francisco.
It seems like Buster Posey is Craig Breslow 4.0, doesn’t it? Former player coming back to his former team to take the league by storm? Handsomer? Vibes? Jealously everywhere.
Rafael Devers’ intro presser with Giants will have Red Sox fans ripping their hair out
Raffy in the orange and black. Yuck. It really didn’t have to be like this. Barry Bonds didn’t have to be sitting in front of the crowd in attendance, either.
Not done yet, though! Not even close. After Devers (rightfully, as some Sox fans would contend) denied to help the team out at first base after they removed him as the starting third baseman, he said during the introductory presser than he’s “here to play wherever they need me to play.”
Is that so? IS THAT SO?! And just minutes later, we learned Devers is going to play first base and DH with Matt Chapman, a Gold Glover, entrenched at third base. It makes total sense, and it would’ve made sense in Boston with Alex Bregman in the fold had Breslow done his job correctly. Instead, Red Sox fans everywhere are ready to surrender their fandom.
Objectively, Devers’ vengefulness is a bit childish, too. Did the Red Sox screw up colossally and put themselves in this position? Absolutely. But if he was that passionate about third base, he would’ve stood his ground similarly in a new destination. Instead, it seems the Giants pressed the right buttons and got Devers to be more flexible.
Sometimes it really is just about keeping your players happy, which is something the Red Sox have failed to do ever since they abruptly fired Dave Dombrowski less than a year after winning the World Series in 2019.
