{"id":32674,"date":"2025-03-13T03:05:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T03:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32674"},"modified":"2025-03-13T03:05:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T03:05:06","slug":"bad-look-for-red-sox-as-315-5-million-face-of-franchise-still-sits-out-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32674","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Bad Look&#8217; For Red Sox as $315.5 Million Face of Franchise Still Sits Out Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the Red Sox work their way through spring training, with\u00a0only 15 days until\u00a0they open their 2025 season, optimism is running high among the Boston fan base. It&#8217;s been demonstrated objectively.\u00a0The Athletic published the results\u00a0of its annual &#8220;Hope-O-Meter&#8221; survey on Tuesday, finding that the traditionally downbeat Red Sox fans ranked as the sixth-most optimistic among fans of the 30\u00a0MLB\u00a0teams, with a 91.8 percent optimism rating.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s way up from last season when Red Sox fans placed 27th in The Athletic survey, with dismal 12.2 percent optimism. In 2023 the Fenway faithful were only somewhat more optimistic, at 38.5 percent, 23rd in the league.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 &#8220;Hope-O-Meter&#8221; soared even higher than in 2022 when the Red Sox were coming off an\u00a0inspiring, underdog run\u00a0to the American League Championship Series. Optimism prior to the 2022 campaign \u2014 which ended\u00a0with the Red Sox in last place\u00a0in the AL East at 78-84 \u2014 ran at an even 88 percent.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"imageBox\">\n<div class=\"innerBox ar23-innerBox\"><picture class=\"mapping-embed\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.webp?w=790&amp;f=f49d0789dc681cbf5528929c84e736c5 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.jpg?w=790&amp;f=f49d0789dc681cbf5528929c84e736c5 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.webp?w=900&amp;f=e00a1bd4441ac17978a162376fc1a43f 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.jpg?w=900&amp;f=e00a1bd4441ac17978a162376fc1a43f 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.webp?w=790&amp;f=f49d0789dc681cbf5528929c84e736c5 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.jpg?w=790&amp;f=f49d0789dc681cbf5528929c84e736c5 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.webp?w=450&amp;f=58bf9664f5b7a2428817eea8d7b14435 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.jpg?w=450&amp;f=58bf9664f5b7a2428817eea8d7b14435 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.webp?w=1200&amp;f=3fd62f217ddf16b15eeb741eb2123b03\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i2606010\" class=\"mapping-embed imgPhoto\" src=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2606010\/red-sox-slugger-rafael-devers.jpg?w=1200&amp;f=3fd62f217ddf16b15eeb741eb2123b03\" alt=\"Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption ar23-caption\"><span id=\"short-cap-description\" class=\"cap\">FORT MYERS, FLORIDA &#8211; MARCH 5: Rafael Devers #11 of the Boston Red Sox reacts in the dugout before a Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in&#8230;<\/span>\u00a0<button id=\"read-more-cap\">More<\/button>\u00a0<span class=\"credit ar23-credit\">Maddie Malhotra\/Boston Red Sox\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This year, however, Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers, who should be the face of the franchise with his\u00a0team record 10-year, $313.5 million\u00a0contract, has cast one of the few shadows over the mostly sunny spring training in Fort Myers, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>After the Red Sox wrapped up their offseason with the splashy signing of former Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman,\u00a0Devers publicly stated that he refused\u00a0to move off of his third base position to become a full-time designated hitter and allow\u00a0the Gold Glove-winning defender\u00a0Bregman to take over the hot corner.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Third base is my position. It&#8217;s what I play,&#8221; Devers said in mid-February. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what their plans are. We had a conversation. I made it clear on what my desires were. Whatever happens from here, I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The problem is, after the Red Sox\u00a0have completed 27 spring training\u00a0games with just 13 left to play, Devers has yet to actually play third base \u2014 or for that matter, to play at all.<\/p>\n<p>Scheduled to make his debut on Tuesday, Devers did not play in that game\u00a0against the Philadelphia Phillies, which the Red Sox lost 18-8. The Red Sox had their first spring night game on the schedule Wednesday, facing the Minnesota Twins, but when\u00a0the lineup card was posted, Devers&#8217; name was not on that one either.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Devers was\u00a0set to take part\u00a0in a simulated game on Thursday with his debut now supposedly set for Saturday\u00a0against the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Red Sox work their way through spring training, with\u00a0only 15 days until\u00a0they open their 2025 season, optimism is running high among the Boston fan base&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Bad Look&#039; 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