SF Giants Opening Day lineup is definitive sign Red Sox were right on Rafael Devers

The Boston Red Sox ruffled some feathers in their own fan base by trading their franchise player, Rafael Devers, to the San Francisco Giants for virtually peanuts. While, no, Craig Breslow should not be let off the hook for the subpar return, trading Devers, as unpopular a decision as it was at the time and is still considered to be by most Red Sox fans, was a smart move. The Giants' Opening Day lineup only backs that theory up.

Devers is hitting third, which is where he should be, but he's the DH. Yes, he's playing the position he was vehemently against playing with the Red Sox in 2025. He might be fine doing this with San Francisco, and it's worth noting that he's less than 100 percent right now, but again, Boston seems to have been in the right here with Devers.

Red Sox were right all along about Rafael Devers' best position

Devers wanted to be a third baseman in Boston, and I don't blame him. Third base is a challenging position, and one that then-chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom promised him he'd play, at least for the foreseeable future, when he signed his 10-year, $313.5 million extension with Boston in the 2022 offseason. I, too, would not be happy if my employer went back on their word.

The problem, though, is that Bloom was no longer in Boston in 2025. Craig Breslow was the man in charge, and he did not promise Devers the third base position. Breslow wanted Devers to be the DH when they signed Alex Bregman, and while he'd eventually give in, Devers was very clearly against it. Breslow asking Devers to then be their first baseman after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury set the wheels into motion on a trade.

"I know I'm a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can't expect me to play every single position out there," Devers said when asked to move to first base by the Red Sox. "In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove. I wasn't going to play another position other than DH. Right now, I don't think it would be an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position."

The optics of this whole situation were bad from both sides, but what was clear was that the Red Sox wanted Devers to be a primary DH who could fill in at first base when needed. They wanted him to never play an inning at third base again. Is that not the way it should be? Devers was never a good defender at third base.

Giants are still in a good spot with Rafael Devers

The Giants are going to use him similarly to how Boston wanted to. Devers is going to DH most of the time and play first base when needed. It'd be shocking to see him play a single inning defensively at third base, especially with Matt Chapman locked in on an extension of his own. They're paying a lot of money for Devers to DH primarily, but does that really matter?

When healthy, Devers is an awesome hitter. His numbers weren't quite as advertised post-trade, but we need to count for an adjustment period. Devers didn't expect to be traded, and Oracle Park is notoriously difficult for left-handed power hitters to hit in. Assuming he's now fully adjusted, he could be in for a huge year.

He could lead San Francisco back to the postseason for just the second time since 2016, and again, they gave up virtually nothing of huge import to get him. The Red Sox were right that Devers isn't a third baseman, and he probably isn't worth over $300 million, but the Giants don't need him to be a third baseman and will be paying him less than $300 million in total dollars.

The Giants need him to rake, and that's exactly what he's capable of doing. Both sides can be right in certain aspects of a trade. The Red Sox were right that Devers isn't a third baseman, but the trade was still a very good one for the Giants to have made.

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