The fallout from the Red Sox’s shocking decision to trade Rafael Devers to the Giants continues.
Shortly after Boston shipped their $313 million star to San Francisco on Sunday for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and a pair of prospects, The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reported fraying relations between the club and Devers, suggesting the Red Sox “had enough.”
“Per Red Sox sources: The team’s feeling was that a $313.5M contract comes with responsibilities to do what is right for the team and that Devers did not live up to those responsibilities,” Abraham wrote on Bluesky.
“They had enough and they traded him.”
The move followed a rocky few months between the Red Sox and Devers, who had previously balked at the idea of switching from third base and becoming a designated hitter after the team signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract in February.
The spring training drama then carried over to the regular season, when Devers, 28, shut down a first base move after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury.
Devers, who has struggled defensively in his career, put up strong numbers for the Red Sox with a 1.004 OPS since the beginning of May (sixth-best).
Even with that bright spot, Devers — in the third year of a $313.5 million contract with Boston — fueled further buzz this month after he appeared not to run out for a ground ball against the Yankees.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterward it “wasn’t lack of hustle.”
With Sunday’s trade, Devers now gets a fresh start with the Giants, who will pay out the rest of the deal. The Red Sox also received prospects James Tibbs and Jose Bello in the move.
San Francisco is currently second in the NL West at 41-31.
The Red Sox, who climbed to 37-36 on Sunday after sweeping the Yankees in three, are now just 6.5 games back from first place in the AL East.
The dust of the Devers trade has far from settled in New England, with fans fuming over the move and even floating bizarre conspiracy theories linked to a Premier League soccer club.