Rafael Devers Giants revenge game will turn ugly if one Boston legend gets his way

The San Francisco Giants will host the Boston Red Sox on Friday at 10:15 PM ET. It will be Rafael Devers' first game against his former team, just days after he was sent out in a blockbuster trade that rattled the foundations of the Red Sox fandom.

Most of us still haven't fully processed the trade yet. To already get to watch Devers play against Boston — a team he joined as a prospect in 2014 — is wild. It feels like whiplash.

This game will naturally draw a lot of eyeballs. There will be an intense focus not only on how Devers performs, but how he interacts with his former teammates and coaches. The 28-year-old left more than a few folks with a bitter taste in their mouths. The fanbase is utterly heartbroken. That's why one Red Sox legend believes the team should look to make what we will call an 'extracurricular statement.'

Jonathan Papelbon thinks the Red Sox should plunk Devers.

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Jonathan Papelbon says he would hit Rafael Devers with pitch if he was playing for Red Sox

This is notable, as Boston's aughts legends have taken a... diverse approach to commenting on the Raffy Devers situation.

Manny Ramírez, for one, criticized the Red Sox for fumbling a franchise cornerstone.

David Ortiz has been trying his best to advise Devers all season. Now he's posting rather pointed comments on social media, not-so-subtly telling Devers what it means to be an "all-around player" in Boston.

Now we have Papelbon, a six-time All-Star and elite closer, telling folks he would point-blank drill Raffy Devers with a pitch to send a message.

How fun.

Rafael Devers should feel safe in his revenge game against Red Sox

Is Papelbon in the right here? Of course not. We should not advise pitchers to throw at hitters under any circumstance, much less one as nuanced as this.

Say what you will about Devers, but he gave a decade of his life to the Red Sox and was incredibly productive. Even this season, amid all the controversy and mixed feelings, Devers was the top DH in the American League and a pillar of the Boston lineup, hitting .272 with a .905 OPS and 15 home runs in 73 games before the trade.

It's also hard to blame Devers for this situation outright. Did he take a somewhat lame and immature stance on the whole positional debacle? Sure, yeah. The Red Sox asked him to switch to DH and he was resistant. When they asked him to move to first base, it was met with outright refusal — at least for this season, as Devers tells it.

This all would've been much easier if Devers took the "I'll do whatever they ask me to do" approach he has adopted since the trade. But the blame also lies on Alex Cora, Craig Breslow and the Red Sox front office. Some better communication leading up to and directly after the Alex Bregman signing probably avoids this entire snafu.

Devers thought he was Boston's third baseman and clearly felt betrayed (or at least misled) when Bregman was installed ahead of him. Even if Boston was always going to plant Bregman at third base — by far the best use of his skill set — the Red Sox needed to clear it with Devers ahead of time and lay out a clear plan for his positional future. Not thrust a DH designation upon him in spring training and then go back on it when Triston Casas got hurt.

Also, Devers did not request a trade. Despite all the bad blood and awkward conversations, Devers was never going to force his way out the door. Frankly, he couldn't with seven years left on his contract. Breslow and the front office made the call to trade Devers in order to set a precedent and nix a distraction. Devers could've handled this better, but Boston still deserves plenty of criticism for upsetting a franchise star and then trading him when things got a bit uncomfortable.

So yeah, plunking him is not the move. You don't want to risk injury, and frankly, it just does not fit the timeline of events. This was not an instance of Devers sabotaging the locker room and demanding a trade. This was Boston failing to walk the tightrope of communication and pulling the emergency parachute, even if it meant sacrificing wins and a path to the World Series.