There are silver linings to be had everywhere, you just have to look for them. For as rough of a start to the 2025 MLB season as it was for Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers, the best thing that could have happened to both parties came north of the border. With Toronto Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. inking a jaw-dropping 14-year deal worth $500 million, Devers is playing for peanuts now.
Okay, not really, but even if he is only in year two of his decade-long extension with the Red Sox, that contract is only valued at $313.5 million in its entirety. Devers will make $27 million this year and next before his base salary increases to $28.5 million for the duration of his deal. With both power hitters firmly on the good side of 30 (Devers won't turn 29 until October), it is safe to say that Boston has more flexibility than it realized.
Even if Devers serves as the team's designated hitter going forward — a question that could hinge on Alex Bregman's future with the team — Guerrero Jr.'s contract, as well as the other megadeals to come, will dwarf whatever Boston is paying Devers for the next nine years. In a way, it feels like this deal with Guerrero Jr. is more inclined to make or break the Blue Jays than the Devers deal ever could with the Red Sox. Of course, he has to play like the face of the franchise again, but he's swinging the bat more and more like his old self of late.
As long as baseball continues to operate without a salary cap, Devers' deal will continually diminish.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s deal makes Rafael Devers' contract more palatable
Look: This is not to say Devers can be excused now for striking out more than half the time he goes to the plate. Imagine giving Joey Gallo that kind of money. Again, Boston chose to anoint Devers as the face of their franchise. Outside of manager Alex Cora, he is the only real connection to the 2018 World Series Championship team that Boston has left on its roster.
What this really boils down to is you should only pay people heaping piles of cash for one of two reasons. They are either great at what they do now, and you want them to keep doing it in perpetuity, or you are paying them to level up and be something better. Simply put, you should not be paying anyone for their past accomplishments or what they did. Living in the past will only rob one's future.
As I try to get my head around this gargantuan number Guerrero Jr. is pulling in, I keep going back to Devers. Guerrero Jr. will be making nearly twice as much as Devers over the life of his contract, so does that make him a fifth-third better? Better yet, can Devers find a way to make himself a fifth-third more valuable to the Red Sox, compared to how the Blue Jays see Guerrero Jr.? Only time will tell in this tale.
Boston is paying Devers to remain a star, but they may have more capital to sign and extend another.