Giants Make Concerning Admission Amid Rafael Devers Blockbuster Trade

But amidst the excitement of landing a player with three 30-homer seasons and a World Series ring on his resume, the Giants made a concerning admission: Devers' bat is more important than which position he is going to play for manager Bob Melvin.

Devers is unlikely to see time at his preferred position in San Francisco, seeing as the Giants employ five-time Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman at third base. This means the Giants, like the Red Sox, will either have to "hide" Devers at first base, or pay him vast sums of money to serve exclusively as a designated hitter.

"Devers offers little, if any, defensive value," wrote The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly. "The Giants aren’t even sure where he will agree to play. It’s entirely possible that they just locked themselves into shelling out around $30 million per season through 2033 for a full-time designated hitter."

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey believes the gamble is worth it. Devers, 28, is a three-time All-Star who led the American League in walks at the time of the trade. He is hitting .272 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI in 2025 -- and his left-handed bat is viewed as a natural fit at Oracle Park, seeing as the right-field foul pole is just 309 feet from home plate.

"I just think the bat’s so special,” Posey said Sunday. “My thoughts are it’s really hard to acquire this type of talent at this point in his career. We’re obviously taking on a lot of money, we’re giving up some pitching, giving up our first-round pick from last year (Tibbs), so this didn’t come without a cost. But (we) felt like this was a chance to take a shot.”