You can run, you can hide, but Rafael Devers drama will find you eventually.
The Boston Red Sox have egregiously mismanaged the situation dating back to this past winter, when Alex Bregman's arrival and subsequent takeover of third base came as a complete shock to Devers, Boston's $330 million superstar and the face of the franchise. Bregman is a better third baseman, straight up, but not informing Devers of his imminent switch to DH ahead of time was a serious misstep.
Now, the Red Sox want Devers to pick up the glove and take over first base with Triston Casas hurt. This was always a logical outcome, even when Casas was healthy but struggling. Devers' defensive weaknesses are significantly more muted at first compared to the hot corner. That said, the 28-year-old is not interested in a position change.
Rafael Devers says he’s not willing to play first base. Doesn’t understand why the team wants him to move again after asking him to change positions in spring training. He said things are fine in the clubhouse but he’s clearly frustrated with Breslow.
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) May 8, 2025
That frustration with Craig Breslow's constant positional mixing and matching has plainly rubbed Devers the wrong way. It has put a cloud above the organization, which Devers — to his credit — tuned out to produce four hits, three RBI and a run scored in Saturday's win over the Kansas City Royals. After the game, Alex Cora's praise of Devers fell utterly flat.
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Alex Cora gives Rafael Devers credit for blocking out his own noise
“(Devers) knows how to cancel the noise,” Cora said after Boston's triumphant 10-1 victory over the Royals. “The last few days have been a lot. But at the end of the day, like he says, ‘Play baseball.’ At 7:05, 6:10 or whenever the game is, he’s ready to go.”
Look, Devers is awesome, and four-hit performances like Saturday's are proof of his immense offensive talent. This is not exactly a case of him blocking out external noise and criticism, however. Devers made his bed; now he has to lay in it.
All major stars have a certain level of well-earned entitlement. Devers was under the impression that he would be Boston's third baseman for a decade and that was ripped away from him prematurely. His frustration was understandable, if a bit too public-facing.
But, here's the deal: he would still be the third baseman if that was Boston's best option. Devers stark lack of improvement defensively is why moving him to DH was the prudent move. Bregman made every possible effort to fit in and keep the waters from getting choppy — he openly offered to play second base — but Boston was better off with Bregman's glove at third. It's on Devers for not stepping up.
Now Devers is being offered a path back to full-time defensive status and he's rejecting it, all for what seems like a personal grudge with Craig Breslow and how Boston's front office has handled this whole affair. Again, Breslow deserves a ton of blame for not forecasting all this more effectively ahead of time, but Devers cannot be truly upset about the Red Sox making the right baseball decision. Devers is a god-awful defender, so this idea that he deserves immunity because of his contract is a little silly. He still gets paid the same at the end of the day.
Before Saturday's game, Cora said the plan at first base was "to keep having conversations" in the aftermath of a meeting between Devers and Red Sox brass. Perhaps Devers opens his mind and embraces change eventually, but let's not act like this drama was not of his own creation. The ego of MLB stars is deserved, and Devers has every right to express his opinions, but c'mon. Play better and this is never a story to begin with.