Rafael Devers’ transition to the San Francisco Giants has not been a seamless one — and it seems some of those troubles, at least initially, have been his own doing.
The Boston Red Sox shook baseball when they traded Devers, in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract, to the Giants on June 15 for four players. Devers grew disgruntled when he was asked twice to change positions — first from third base to designated hitter and then from DH to first base, which he shot down.
Devers expressed an openness to play first base in San Francisco, though he cautioned, “It’s not a position I’m going to learn how to play overnight.” Apparently, he wasn’t ready to learn it initially, either.
“Everyone out there — of course, because they’ve been dying to get big hitters — they think he’s going to win divisions and hit a bunch of home runs,” Red Sox play-by-play broadcaster Will Flemming said Monday on WEEI Afternoons. “They don’t yet know what is going to happen with the player. I was there the second day (after the trade). Will Clark was there to work on ground balls with him at first base, and (Devers) didn’t show up. So that’s the person that (the Red Sox) have been dealing with for a long time.”
Clark played eight seasons in San Francisco, where he made five of his six All-Star teams, won two Silver Sluggers and won a Gold Glove at first base in 1991.
While Devers has been working out at first base, he has played all 20 games at DH. In that time, he’s not fully found his stride with a .240/.348/.387 line with two home runs and nine RBIs. In Boston over 73 games, Devers hit .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs.
Devers’ relationship with the Red Sox began to deteriorate when the team signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training and asked Devers to move to DH; he balked before agreeing to the switch. When first baseman Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about playing the field and he declined, saying the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.
A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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