The Boston Red Sox have taken a major step to address Rafael Devers’ unhappiness with the organization.
Red Sox owner John Henry flew to Kansas City in order to meet with Devers and speak to him one-on-one. Top Red Sox executive Craig Breslow confirmed that the two sides had a “productive” meeting on Friday.
“John, Sam (Kennedy, CEO) and I flew out earlier today, it was actually John who spoke directly with Raffy,” Breslow said on NESN, via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “We felt like it was important, based on the situation that unfolded yesterday, to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox and that is being great teammates for each other. And so we think we had a productive conversation. John seems to have had a productive conversation. And that’s where things stand right now.”
Henry apparently had no plans to travel to Kansas City with the team, so the fact that he did so unplanned indicates that the Red Sox view the Devers situation as a potential crisis. Henry and the organization want to keep it from getting out of hand, though only time will tell if they succeeded.
Devers publicly blasted Breslow and the Red Sox on Thursday, accusing the team of going back on their word to him by asking him to play first base after a season-ending injury to Triston Casas. By Devers’ retelling, the team had essentially told him he would be full-time DH after moving him off third base in the offseason.
Boston’s issues may go beyond Devers, as one report indicated that some of his Red Sox teammates were not happy with the DH airing his issues publicly.
Devers went 1-for-5 with an RBI for the Red Sox in Friday’s 10-inning 2-1 defeat to the Royals. He is hitting .253 on the season with six home runs.
The Red Sox signed Devers to a 10-year, $313.5 million extension prior to the 2023 season. The team’s future is tied to him, so it is certainly in the organization’s best interest to try to smooth out any issues.
