Jeff Passan bamboozled entire Red Sox fanbase with Rafael Devers report

ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan broke some rather minor Rafael Devers news on Tuesday, but Red Sox fans thought it was much, much more.

Jeff Passan is one of the best follows on MLB Twitter, not just because he routinely breaks some of the biggest news in the bigs, but also due to his timing, and framing.

The emotional baggage that comes with being a Red Sox fan this offseason surely got lost on a Southwest flight sometime over the holidays. But now, it’s back…all thanks to Passan.

Boston and Rafael Devers avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year, $17.5 million deal. That is not the contract agreement Sox fans were hoping for.

Red Sox, Rafael Devers avoid arbitration

The good news for Red Sox fans is that this does allow more time for Devers and the Boston front office to discuss a long-term extension. Getting tied up in the arbitration process would’ve been met with resentment from both sides, and thus made it tougher to eventually reach a long-term agreement.

Instead, Boston took care of the obvious, and now must move forward and hope that Devers views their commitment in the same light. Ideally, the door is wide open for Devers and Boston to agree to another deal somewhere down the line.

Red Sox fans want more Rafael Devers news

Boston fans obviously want more Rafael Devers news — ideally something on a long-term extension. Passan did note that this was a step in the right direction towards that eventual goal, though there’s still a significant gap to make up.

There were many more where that came from.

Extending Devers would be a major step for Chaim Bloom to win back the trust of Boston sports fans, especially after losing Xander Bogaerts. If not, there may be no coming back.