Giants' Buster Posey Hints Red Sox Acquired Future Star In Rafael Devers Trade

The Boston Red Sox may have moved on from Rafael Devers, but it will be years before they can move on from the Rafael Devers trade.

When you trade the face of your franchise, you'd better get something good in return. The Red Sox would likely argue that the best thing they got was the freedom to reallocate the $254.5 million he was still owed, but they need production out of the players the San Francisco Giants sent them as well.

According to the man in charge of those Giants, the Red Sox got a couple of pieces they can be excited about in the short term.

As the Giants and Red Sox were battling it out on the field this past weekend, San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey gave a strong endorsement of 23-year-old left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, arguably the headliner of the deal.

“Harrison’s not an easy guy for us to part with,” Posey said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “A touted young lefty that we all saw a bright future for here. There’s real potential there with Kyle Harrison.”

Harrison had a 4.56 ERA in eight appearances for the Giants at the big-league level this season and the same ERA in 24 starts last year. He's got 178 strikeouts in 182 2/3 major league innings, and he has a potentially elite fastball if he can complement it with other pitches that add to its deception.

Meanwhile, Posey also had good things to say about Jordan Hicks, the flamethrowing reliever the Red Sox acquired who is currently on the injured list.

“He is obviously is a proven back-end type arm,” said Posey, per Cotillo. “He throws 102 (miles per hour) still. I think sometimes guys with that type of stuff, those shorter bursts are well-suited for them.”

Boston chose to take on Hicks' contract (four years, $44 million running through 2027) rather than including cash in the trade for Devers.

Of course, Posey doesn't feel sorry for his team losing these players (or prospects James Tibbs III or Jose Bello). But the Red Sox need them to be good someday to have any chance of saving face, so these are good things to hear.