Red Sox GM says Devers trade does not mean ‘waving of the white flag on 2025’

BOSTON AP The Boston Red Sox thought they would be better off with a happy clubhouse than a disgruntled Rafael Devers A day after trading their erstwhile third baseman to the San Francisco Giants Red Sox President Sam Kennedy communicated reporters on Monday night that Devers refusal to change positions made it untenable for him to remain with the club In terms of what was missing it just was that alignment in terms of what we felt we needed from him that would be in the absolute best interest of the ball club Kennedy disclosed That s a non-starter for us We have to have that We couldn t get there So we made the decision that we made Less than two years after signing Devers to a -year million contract the Red Sox sent him to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and a pair of prospects The deal came on the day Boston earned a fifth straight win and completed a sweep of the rival New York Yankees a rare cause for excitement this season It was a shock for sure after the run that we just had this past week pitcher Garrett Crochet revealed in Seattle before Monday night s battle against the Mariners There s a lot of season ahead of us So it s really just keeping your eyes forward and knowing that there s still work to be done Inquired what the move means for this year s squad closer Aroldis Chapman declared I don t know I don t really know Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow acknowledged on the conference call Sunday night that the deal leaves a hole in the lineup but he hoped it would pay off this season Although there is a newly created need for a power hitter the club now has roster and payroll flexibility to add players at the bargain deadline he announced It s pivotal to point out that this is in no way signifying a waving of the white flag on he announced We are as committed as we were six months ago to putting a winning association on the field to competing for the division and making a deep postseason run A homegrown three-time All-Star who joined Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players to have multiple -homer seasons before turning Devers relationship with the squad soured when it signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman this offseason Devers who led the league in errors for a third baseman in each of the last seven seasons balked at moving to designated hitter and then refused to play either first or third position when Bregman and first baseman Triston Casas were both injured We have a responsibility to do everything we can to improve the club And we felt we were doing that by bringing Alex Bregman to the Red Sox Kennedy declared And we have a responsibility ironically to every single player in that clubhouse to do everything in our power to improve the club So it was something that we were committed to doing And I do not regret that for one minute But they lost Devers in the process We worked at it We had a different vision for him going forward that he had and we couldn t get there We couldn t find alignment Kennedy revealed And we reached that inflection point and made the decision to make a big move The move came as a shock to Red Sox fans still salty over the salary dump of Mookie Betts in a year after he won the AL MVP in a arrangement that yielded little in return The unit also let Xander Bogaerts leave as a free agent before deciding that Devers was the athlete they were willing to invest in Now just one full season later he s gone too There s certain reasons that it didn t work out manager Alex Cora stated But the last sparse months hasn t been easy We made decisions in the offseason Circumstances changed in the last month and that s the business decision we made as an organization Now Raffy is going to be with the Giants and like I reported we have to turn the page and be ready for this unit Breslow insisted that the deal was not an attempt to cut payroll like the deals for Betts who went on to win two World Series in Los Angeles or Chris Sale who won the NL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Braves The baseball boss acknowledged that he second-guessed himself over how he handled the Bregman signing which caught Devers by surprise and the attempts to get the -year-old All-Star to change positions I think about that question all of the time Breslow commented This is not the outcome that we had expected And it s forced me to reflect on the interactions that I ve had not just with Raffy but with other players and opportunities to communicate differently The Red Sox winning streak has come with Bregman and outfielder Wilyer Abreu injured joining outfielder Masataka Yoshida and first baseman Triston Casas on the injured list In their place the organization has relied on callups like Kristian Campbell Marcelo Mayer and top prospect Roman Anthony who made his major league debut to much hype last week Breslow revealed the front office will continue to look for tactics to improve the unit with a middle of the lineup hitter a new need For a few reason this association is an example where the hole was not greater than the sum of the parts he mentioned And being great teammates and sacrificing and stepping up for each other and embodying this shared vision we believe that those are principles that we need to be faithful to And so at the end of the season I think we we could look back and say we ve won more games than we otherwise would have he mentioned because of the way that this roster is now able to come together