A former MLB executive ripped Rafael Devers for being unwilling to switch positions while with the Boston Red Sox. During an appearance on the “Foul Territory” podcast, former Miami Marlins president David Samson called the three-time All-Star a “turd in the clubhouse.”
“How would you like it if a guy came in — the highest paid player — and was not willing to do what the team wanted in terms of playing a position?” said Samson. “How would you like it if then the player gets traded and ten minutes later said, ‘Oh, I’ll play the field. No problem.’ It’s really not great.”
"How would you like it if you had the highest paid player who was sort of a turd in the clubhouse?"@DavidPSamson says the Red Sox have a chance to be better in the long term after trading Rafael Devers. 👀 pic.twitter.com/bEhyCihqzE
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 19, 2025
The Red Sox shocked the baseball world earlier this week, trading Devers — who they signed to a 10-year, $313.5 million extension in January 2023 — to the San Francisco Giants following months of drama.
Tensions between the Red Sox and Devers initially surfaced during spring training. The franchise failed to inform Devers during the offseason that they were signing All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman and wanted him to move off the hot corner. At first, Devers refused, but eventually agreed and moved to designated hitter.
In May, the Red Sox asked Devers if he could take over first base after Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury. This time, Devers wouldn’t budge from DH and blasted the Red Sox front office. Owner John Henry had to fly to Kansas City ahead of a series with the Royals to meet with Devers and address the issues.
The Red Sox apparently felt the relationship was unsustainable moving forward, so they shipped Devers to the Giants for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello. The Giants took on all of Devers’ remaining contract money.
Samson explained to “Foul Territory” it was “addition by subtraction” for Boston and a win for San Francisco.
“The Giants get a left-handed bat where they haven’t had a 30-home run hitter since ’04,” noted Samson. “They have an opportunity to be in a division where they’re fighting against the Dodgers and spend-like-drunken-sailor Padres, hoping for one or two playoff spots, and they needed that sort of bat.”
Even though many Red Sox fans were critical of the move, Samson believes it was the correct decision for the foreseeable future.
“I understand Red Sox fans who are despondent beyond repair. But I’ll tell you, the Red Sox, to me, have a chance to be better in the long term if they add at the deadline,” said Samson. “So that proves they are not giving up on this year, and they reallocate the dollars that was given to Devers over all those years just to DH. I think if they do that, the Red Sox end up on the better end of this.”
During his nine seasons with the Red Sox, Devers slashed .279/.349/.510, with 215 home runs, a 129 OPS+ and 24.9 bWAR.
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