The Boston Red Sox nearly traded Rafael Devers to a mystery team before shipping him off to the San Francisco Giants.
Boston upended the baseball world Sunday night when they sent the three-time All-Star to the Giants for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello. The move came after months of drama surrounding the franchise and Devers.
However, Devers almost landed elsewhere, and it all has to do with Red Sox owner John Henry.
“There was another deal where they were taking on some of the money,” Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes told the “Foul Territory” podcast. “I do not know what pieces were included within that particular deal. That was vetoed by John Henry and the reason it was vetoed was because they had to take on money.”
There was another trade involving Rafael Devers that John Henry vetoed because the Red Sox would've been responsible for some of the remaining money on his contract, per @GeoffPontesBA. pic.twitter.com/aTVvZla1R1
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 16, 2025
Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract in January 2023 and is owed $250 million through the 2033 season. The Giants agreed to take on the remaining contract with no money from Boston.
Pontes believes the Red Sox had limited options for trading Devers because of his contract size.
“I think it kind of left them really limited in terms of the number of suitors who could give them a reasonable deal and a reasonable return for what that contract is, without having to eat $50 to $60 million,” Pontes noted.
Tension between Devers and Boston began in spring training when the front office failed to inform Devers they would be signing third baseman Alex Bregman. Devers initially refused to move off the hot corner but eventually acquiesced and became the team’s designated hitter. When Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox wanted Devers to move to first base, but he rejected the idea.
Now, Devers is with the Giants while Boston lost their most productive hitter. The Red Sox will face San Francisco on Friday to begin a three-game series against Devers and the Giants.
Following an 0-for-19 start to the season, Devers is slashing .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs, 18 doubles, 47 runs scored, 58 RBI, a 152 OPS+, and 2.3 bWAR.
