Rafael Devers may feel betrayed amid rumblings that the Boston Red Sox plan to move him off third base. Red Sox manager Alex Cora does not see things the same way.
Once Boston signed standout third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency, questions were immediately raised about whom the Red Sox would have manning the hot corner at Fenway. Initial reports suggested that Bregman was going to be the one to adjust.
Speaking to the media on Monday outside the Red Sox’s clubhouse, Devers was defiant about the possibility of giving up his position to become a DH or first baseman. He cited a promise the team had made him before signing his massive extension in 2023. The Red Sox had assured Devers that he would remain the team’s full-time third baseman throughout the duration of his contract.
But when asked about that same promise later that day, Cora came prepared with a response.
“Different people here, right?” Cora told reporters, via The Athletic’s Steve Buckley. “There’s a different leader here. [Chaim Bloom] is in St. Louis right now.”
Bloom was Boston’s top executive from 2019 to 2023 before getting hired by the St. Louis Cardinals a year later. The Red Sox’s new decision-makers don’t seem willing to honor a promise made by their predecessor.
Devers has long been one of the best hitters in baseball. In his eight seasons with the Red Sox, he holds a .279 batting average with 200 home runs and a career OPS of .856. Devers has also received MVP votes in five different campaigns.
However, Devers’ defense has largely been below average. He has finished with a negative defensive wins above replacement (dWAR) mark in every season of his career, something Bregman has never done once in his 9-year MLB tenure.
