Alternate Reality: Red Sox Without Rafael Devers

EDITORS NOTE: I did not check my grammar. oops.

It is January 4th, 2023. Jon Heyman just tweeted a very wordy message about Devers and the Red Sox working on a a long-term deal that did not give any information. Not suprising as we writers lay in the cat days of winter scooping up any scraps to tweet about. Coming off the report that a fan at the Winter Classic had their sign that read "Pay Devers" was confiscated by security. The team came out and said it should not have happened, but the damage was already done.

So, here we are. I would like to be an optimist and I believe that in this reality we will extend Devers to a 11 year $330 million deal and be done with it. He seems to have resigned to the fact that he will not be playing with Bogaerts going forward. However, out there somewhere in the multiverse there is a reality where John Henry is too busy wondering what sports franchise he wants to get into next. He is not loyal to one team. He has jumped from the Yankees to the Marlins and then to the Red Sox over his ownership career. He is a businessman and in this alternate reality he does not push Bloom to extend Devers. What happens then?

In my opinion if a deal does not get done before the start of the season the Rafael Devers needs to be traded at or before the July trade deadline. Ownership needs to look in the mirror and realize they made a major mistake letting Xander walk for nothing when they knew exactly where he stood and where they stood. That deal was never getting done after the Trevor Story signing. Rafael Devers is not Xander Bogaerts. He is younger and better, he will require a haul which I believe they would get. Not a haul of veterans, but a new rebuild that without Devers would be necessary.

Now, being Devers 3B play has been suspect I am going to focus on American League teams. Any team commiting to Devers into his mid 30s will no doubt want to shift him to either 1B, but more likely a DH. With the exception of one NL team.... The San Diego Padres. Below I will list some possible trades in this reality.

Devers to Padres

Do I think this will ever happen? In some reality it probably did. Frankly, considering all of the antics Tatis has been up to I don't think this is the worst deal in the world. Now Rafaela can be swapped out for another mid to high level prospect, but the core of this deal really is Devers. This would need to be a sign and trade for the Padres to take the deal. However, it reunites Devers with Bogey, gives the Padrers a stud, and sends their biggest headache across the country. For the Sox it is a gamble worth taking. Tatis is still young and hopefully would step into a leadership role of a young up and coming team with the guidance of Alex Cora. Again, unlikely, but it is something to think about.

The rest of the potential trades that have floated around the Twitter timeline are below. Of course, as I was finishing this Carlos Baerga posted on Twitter with a deal that he is saying is done between the Sox and Devers. As a man of honor I did not change the deal I predicted at the start of this blog and kept it what I originally had.

Devers To Rangers

Devers To Marlins

Devers To Twins