Fortunately, Devers was a slugging gold mine. So Breslow had the option to expel what he saw as a clubhouse cancer — which another club would merely view as an offensive weapon — and give a different stud a fresh start in Boston.
A trade had its benefits, as any player acquired would enter the organization under Breslow’s leadership, while Devers signed his contract extension under former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, which surely contributed to the differing interpretations of his role on the team.
Still, this would only apply if the players brought back were worth a loss of valuable assets. Breslow’s final package did not check this box. He acquired four players, one of whom he later traded for Dustin May and his eventual 4.96 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and -0.6 bWAR in 2025. The other three were Jordan Hicks (-1.8 bWAR), Kyle Harrison (0.5 bWAR), and Jose Bello, a 20-year-old minor league pitcher.
None of these players signaled that the Red Sox were serious about a 2025 playoff run, especially in lieu of Devers, who was slashing .272/.401/.504 with a .905 OPS at the time and finished 2025 with a .252/.372/.479 slash line for an .852 OPS (140 OPS+).
Instead of issuing an apology through action by adding a stud or two, which would have been met with forgiveness from Red Sox fans, Breslow abandoned a star for four numerically replaceable players.
Without Devers in the lineup, the Red Sox became overwhelmingly reliant on 21-year-old rookie Roman Anthony, who spent the first chunk of the season in Triple-A. Before falling to an oblique injury in September, the rookie totaled a .292/.396/.463 slash for a .859 OPS and 140 OPS+ – thankfully for Breslow, perfectly filling the gaping hole that Devers left behind.