{"id":111899,"date":"2025-06-18T01:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T01:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/111899\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T01:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T01:48:11","slug":"rafael-devers-to-start-work-at-first-base-with-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/111899\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Devers To Start Work At First Base With Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Giants held a press conference today to introduce Rafael Devers<\/a> and one key question about his future in San Francisco was answered. The Giants plan to have him serve as the designated hitter but also as a first baseman going forward. He\u2019ll start taking grounders in preparation for the position change in the next few days. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area<\/a> was among those to relay the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the men in charge,\u201d Devers said today, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m here to play wherever they want me to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obviously a notable shift from where things stood with the Red Sox. Devers had been almost exclusively a third baseman coming into this year, though he has been considered a poor defender. Over the winter, the Sox were connected in rumors to third basemen like Nolan Arenado<\/a> and Alex Bregman<\/a>. Members of the Red Sox such as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow<\/a> and manager \u00c1lex Cora<\/a> downplayed the possibility of Devers being moved off the hot corner.<\/p>\n

The Sox eventually signed Bregman, but even in the initial wake of that deal, the club didn\u2019t firmly declare that Devers was done as a third baseman. \u201cHe\u2019s a Gold Glove third baseman,\u201d Cora said<\/a> of Bregman in February. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t played second base in the big leagues. I do believe he can be a Gold Glove second baseman, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few days later, Devers spoke to the media and was adamant about not moving. \u201cIt\u2019s my decision,\u201d he said at the time<\/a>. \u201cMy position is third base. Whatever it is they want to do is what they want to do. But my position is third base.\u201d He had apparently been promised he could be a long-term third baseman when signing his ten-year extension in 2023, though Cora dismissed that promise. \u201cThat was under Chaim,\u201d Cora said, referring to previous CBO Chaim Bloom. The Sox fired Bloom late in 2023 and later hired Breslow to replace him.<\/p>\n

As spring training went on, it became clear that the Sox intended to have Bregman at third, with Devers moved to a DH role. While Devers was clearly frustrated and reportedly considered<\/a> asking for a trade, he eventually relented and accepted his fate. Whatever emotions he was feeling were not impacting his performance, as Devers has hit .272\/.401\/.504 for a 148 wRC+ this year.<\/p>\n

The situation with the Red Sox grew even more complicated in early May when first baseman Triston Casas<\/a> suffered a season-ending knee injury. Devers taking up that spot seemed like a logical next step, as many subpar third basemen have successfully moved across the diamond over the years. Doing so also would have helped the Sox with positional logjams elsewhere. Outfield prospect Roman Anthony<\/a> has been blocked in Triple-A for most of the season but an open DH spot would have helped the club find more playing time for him and others.<\/p>\n

The Sox did indeed ask Devers to consider a move to first base, but Devers refused<\/a> and also seemed offended that he was even asked. \u201cThey talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn\u2019t going to play any other position but DH,\u201d Devers said of the conversation during spring training. \u201cSo right now, I just feel like it\u2019s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.\u201d He went on to seemingly take a shot at the club\u2019s brass in the process: \u201cNow I think they should do their job essentially and hit the market and look for another player (to play first base). I\u2019m not sure why they want me to be in between the way they have me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sox went on to try other options at first, including utility players like Romy Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> and Abraham Toro<\/a>. Rookie Kristian Campbell<\/a> also started some pre-game work at first, though he has yet to appear there in actual game action. Joon Lee of Yahoo! Sports<\/a> reported yesterday that Devers was insulted that Campbell volunteered to step up and do that work, \u201cinterpreting it as a slight to his own stature,\u201d in Lee\u2019s words.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All of this drama seemed to lead to this weekend\u2019s shocking trade<\/a> which sent Devers to the Giants. Back on May 10th, it was reported<\/a> that Breslow, owner John Henry and CEO Sam Kennedy all flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and discuss the situation as the Sox played the Royals. In the wake of the trade<\/a>, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey<\/a> said that he had been discussing the deal with the Sox for three to four weeks. In other words, not long after that Kansas City meeting.<\/p>\n

Breslow also spoke to the media yesterday and said that \u201cIt\u2019s the willingness to step up and sacrifice at times of need and essentially do whatever is necessary to help the team win,\u201d speaking broadly about successful teams he\u2019d been a part of during his playing days. \u201cI think that\u2019s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at how Devers fit onto the roster in San Francisco raised similar questions to his time in Boston. Matt Chapman<\/a> is currently on the injured list but is one of the best defensive third basemen in the league and is under contract through 2030. The club\u2019s top prospect is Bryce Eldridge<\/a>, a first baseman who recently got promoted from Double-A to Triple-A.<\/p>\n

Given the standoff in Boston, it was fair to wonder where Devers fit but now there\u2019s an answer. Eldridge will continue playing first base in the minors, per Pavlovic<\/a>, though Devers will learn the position in the meantime. If Eldridge succeeds as a major leaguer, the two could share the roster for a long time. Devers\u2019 contract goes for eight more years after the current season. Eldridge will be under club control until he accrues six season of service time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eldridge might still be the long-term first baseman and Devers the long-term DH, though at least having Devers as a viable player at that position is obviously valuable. It will provide more flexibility if Eldridge ever needs a stint on the injured list during his career, or perhaps doesn\u2019t pan out. As heralded as he is, even the top prospects don\u2019t always succeed when promoted to the majors.<\/p>\n

The shift in tone from Devers will naturally lead to questions about why. It\u2019s possible that he bore a grudge against the Sox about the broken promise or perhaps didn\u2019t like the way they went about communicating their plans to him. Perhaps he just wants to start this new opportunity on the right foot, as opposed to kicking it off with another dispute.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all speculative, though that\u2019s all that can really be done unless further reporting sheds more light on the subject or Devers decides to open up about it. \u201cI\u2019m moving forward from the situation in Boston and looking forward to being a San Francisco Giant,\u201d Devers said today, per Cotillo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the short term, Devers will presumably need some time to feel comfortable at first, having never played there in his career. The Giants recently moved on from first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr.<\/a> and have been using Dominic Smith<\/a> there, with Wilmer Flores<\/a> in the DH spot. Devers is DHing tonight with Smith at first and Flores on the bench, though Flores has first base experience and could factor in there as well. Though Chapman is currently on the IL, the club doesn\u2019t plan to use Devers at third, per Justice delos Santos of Mercury News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flores and Smith are both impending free agents. If Eldridge starts thriving in Triple-A, perhaps he gets called up later in the year, with Flores and\/or Smith becoming trade candidates prior to the deadline. In the long run, it seems the Giants hope for a Devers\/Eldridge duo in the first base\/DH mix, though that will naturally depend upon Devers taking to the new position and Eldridge developing.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Boston fans will be left with the hypotheticals. If playing first base wasn\u2019t really the problem, then was there a way this could have all played out differently? What if the club had asked Devers to play first base back in November, prior to signing Bregman, and given him a full offseason\/spring to prepare? What if they held him through this year and then broached the subject again ahead of the 2026 season? Those questions are all moot now as the club once again grapples with a star player leaving Boston for California.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Dale Zanine, Gregory Fisher, Jerome Miron, Sergio Estrada,\u00a0Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Giants held a press conference today to introduce Rafael Devers and one key question about his future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,710,18701,162,379,4,863,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-111899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bryce-eldridge","10":"tag-dominic-smith","11":"tag-giants","12":"tag-matt-chapman","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-rafael-devers","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-giants","17":"tag-sanfrancisco","18":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","19":"tag-sf","20":"tag-sf-giants","21":"tag-sfgiants","22":"tag-wilmer-flores"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114701854563822849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}