Red Sox CBO makes bold prediction on Rafael Devers-less Boston's success

The Boston Red Sox stunned the MLB world on Sunday with the mega-trade of superstar Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. In exchange, the Giants sent Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and Jose Bello to Boston.

Before Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, Red Sox’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow addressed the media on this incident. He even commented how the team might be winning more games with Devers off to SF, as it’ll give the young players more field time:

"I think when you consider the flexibility, the ability to give some of the young players some run ... I do think there’s a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would have.”

The timing of the move was questionable to many, as the Red Sox dropped the bombshell right after they swept the New York Yankees in a three-game series. Club president Sam Kennedy revealed that they failed to find “alignment” with Devers on his role in the lineup.

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They reached a point where the team and their expectations of him were separated by miles, ultimately leading to their split. It all started boiling over when the team asked Devers to move to DH after acquiring Alex Bregman.

Their point of no return came following Triston Casas' season-ending injury, which prompted the team to have a talk with Devers on first base. Devers, to the media, boldly shared his stance of not wanting to make a shift again.

Red Sox’s Craig Breslow reveals whether Rafael Devers asked for a trade

During the interview, Red Sox’s CBO Craig Breslow mentioned that Rafael Devers' party indicated a fresh start. According to him, the situation reached a point where it was best to start anew as their interests failed to find a middle ground (via NBCBoston.com):

“There were times during the course of conversations with Raffy's camp where they had indicated perhaps a fresh start would be best for both sides.”

Breslow further clarified that they traded him now, rather than at the July trade deadline, as they believe there’s never a perfect time to trade a superstar player like Rafael Devers.

With Devers gone, the Red Sox’s young talents will get more field time along with the players who recently joined the roster following the move.

About the author

Kaushani Chatterjee is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda with over 4 years of experience at publications such as FirstSportz.

Her favorite teams are the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. She is a fan of both the teams which left her conflicted during the 2024 World Series game.

She started watching the MLB during her school years and developed a keen interest in the sport. Now she is hooked.

Kaushani's hobbies include guitar, sketching, watching anime (tons of them), listening to music, and watching Asian dramas (Korean/Thai in general).

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Edited by Veer Badani