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Rafael Devers’ position saga continues, and now, it appears the front office is getting involved.
Devers, who has played third base his entire career with the Boston Red Sox, found himself in a peculiar spot when the team signed Alex Bregman, also a lifelong third baseman (and a much better defensive one), shortly before the season started.
Devers is a three-time All-Star, and despite plenty of turnover in Boston (most notably, trading Mookie Betts in 2020), Devers was the one star the team opted to keep. They signed him to an 11-year deal worth $313.5 million ahead of the 2023 season, which would have been a contract year.
But despite both sides showing loyalty to one another in those discussions, there is now some intense drama brewing.
The plan after Bregman signed appeared to be to move Devers to second, but Devers actually has only DH’d this year. Bregman, meanwhile, has manned the hot corner, and the emergence of rookie Kristian Campbell at second has left Devers without a position in the field.
Well, first baseman Triston Casas is out for the season with a knee injury, and the Sox approached Devers with the idea of playing first base, but he shut it down quite quickly.
Now, it’s being reported that Sox owner John Henry, general manager Craig Breslow and team president Sam Kennedy all flew to Kansas City, where the Sox are playing this weekend, to meet with the four-time All-Star.
Manager Alex Cora spoke privately with Devers on Friday, and it’s been reported that Devers’ attitude about the positions has not been well-received in the clubhouse.
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During his public rebuttal of the potential position change, Devers cited the Red Sox’ previous instructions related to him using his glove.
“I know I’m a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers said via a translator, per the Boston Globe. “In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH.”
“So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position,” he added.
Devers then questioned whether Breslow, the pitcher-turned team executive, had some level of discontent towards him.
“I’m not certain what [issue] he has with me,” Devers told reporters. “He played ball, and I would like to think that he knows that changing positions like that isn’t easy.”
Devers is currently hitting .253, his lowest since a .240 campaign in 2018, his second year in the big leagues. He leads the American League in both strikeouts and walks.
He has not played another position since playing one inning at shortstop in 2023, out of desperation. In total, he has played three career innings at each middle infield position, and well over 8,000 at third.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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