BOSTON (AP) 鈥 The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in a deal that could shake up pennant races on both coasts.
Devers' agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, confirmed the deal to The Associated Press. E-S-P-N reported that the Giants are sending Boston a package of players that includes pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison for the 28-year-old designated hitter, who had bristled at his demotion from third base this year.
The Giants were one game behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers heading into Sunday night's matchup between the 春色直播 League West rivals. San Francisco shortstop Willy Adames said on the ESPN broadcast that the team found out about 15 to 20 minutes before the game.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 so excited,鈥 he said in an on-field interview while playing the field in the second inning. "Me, personally, I鈥檓 like thrilled to have him on the team. He鈥檚 one of the best hitters in the game, and to have him on the team, I think is going to help us do a lot of damage in the division. Obviously we need a bat like him in this lineup.鈥澛
A three-time All-Star who signed a 10-year, US with the Red Sox in 2023, Devers is batting .272 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 73 games, including a solo shot in over the New York Yankees on Sunday that completed a three-game sweep.
But his relationship with the team began to deteriorate when the team signed Gold Glove third baseman during spring training and asked Devers to move to DH; before agreeing to the switch. When first baseman Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about playing the field and he declined, saying the front office 鈥溾 and look for another player.
A day after Devers鈥 comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.
The situation became more difficult when Bregman sustained what the team called on May 23.聽
鈥淓verybody around the league, I think, was paying attention to that. When any team is having some kind of drama like that, with a player like Devers 鈥 he basically was the face of the franchise," Adames said before he was interrupted by Tommy Edman's home run that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to have him. Everybody鈥檚 excited. So we鈥檙e going to make him feel at home," Adames said. 鈥淚 feel like it sends a message that we鈥檙e going to compete. That we鈥檙e going to do whatever it takes to come over here and win the division.鈥
The Red Sox have won five out of six against the rival Yankees over the last two weekends to improve to 37-36, but they are still fourth in the AL East, 6 1/2 games behind division-leading New York.
Devers was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2017. He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for AL MVP five times.
Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season in a salary dump 鈥 just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.
But the Devers deal is perhaps most reminiscent of the 2004 midseason shakeup when Boston traded disgruntled shortstop 鈥 and fan favourite 鈥 Nomar Garciaparra to Minnesota.聽
The Red Sox went on to win the World Series that year, ending their 86-year championship drought.
This is the latest big move by Buster Posey, a seven-time All-Star who took over as San Francisco's president of baseball operations . He signed to a $15 million, one-year contract in January and to a $182 million, seven-year deal in December.
鈥淚t makes them better right now, for sure,鈥 Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said in a TV interview from the dugout at Dodger Stadium. 鈥淏uster Posey鈥檚 really doing it. Good for Buster over there. He鈥檚 going for it.
"I鈥檇 consider Raffy one of the top 10 hitters in the game, at worst. He鈥檚 definitely a game-changer. It will be interesting to see what position he plays over there.鈥
鈥 AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.
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