Red Sox ‘No. 1 priority’ Rafael Devers can demand the world and Boston must oblige

The Boston Red Sox made a huge mistake by letting Xander Bogaerts hit free agency this offseason, and they now need Rafael Devers more than ever.

The Boston Red Sox appear to have less and less going for them as time goes on. Just a few seasons ago, they traded away star Mookie Betts, who is now thriving with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This past season, they failed to lock down Xander Bogaerts before he opted out of his contract and became a free agent, ultimately leading him to sign an 11-year deal worth $280 million with the San Diego Padres. Now, they’re struggling to lock down their lone remaining star player, Rafael Devers.

The Red Sox have many reasons to lose hope amidst losing solid players, failing to replace those players and only making the playoffs once since their last World Series win. They’re the most successful team of the 2000s as they’ve won the most championships so far this century, but that seems to be nearly over as the team has struggled to stay afloat.

They had limited success over the past season, and a lot of credit for anything remotely successful is due to Devers and Bogaerts. The two were the only ones in Boston nominated for Silver Sluggers this season, which Bogaerts ended up earning. They also were the top two players throughout most hitting stats this past season.

Devers led the team in homers (27), RBIs (88), slugging percentage (.521) and OPS (.879). He and Bogaerts tied for most runs (84).

Devers is now going to be the lone star, and if Boston sees his importance, they can’t help but do what he demands.

Rafael Devers should drive a hard bargain for the Red Sox

Boston needs Devers more than Devers needs Boston, and he knows it. The Red Sox have already made it much harder to lock down Devers as they let Bogaerts go and this offseason’s free agency market has been extremely pricy.

Devers is reportedly Boston’s top priority right now, and one executive even stated, “They have to give him whatever he wants. Can they really let him go too?”

While it may be hard to trust that the Red Sox are prioritizing Devers as they said many times Bogaerts was their top priority, it seems slightly more believable now that there’s nobody aside from him left. They’ve been in constant negotiations with him, which raises hope of him staying in Boston.

If he can get much more on the open market, he should expect a lot from the Red Sox and not settle for less than what he’s worth.