Giants Still Have Major Rafael Devers Decision To Make After Red Sox Bombshell

If Boston Red Sox fans are still willing to follow the sport of baseball after their team traded Rafael Devers, they'll be extremely curious to see what position he'll play for the San Francisco Giants.

After four months of discontent stemming from the Red Sox acquiring Alex Bregman and moving him off third base, Devers no longer plays for the team that signed him as a teenager and gave him a $313.5 million contract. He's headed to a new organization with an entirely new set of expectations.

The Giants have a Gold Glove third baseman on the injured list in Matt Chapman. They've also had an offensive black hole at first base for most of the season that has been temporarily mitigated by, of all people, former Red Sox fan favorite Dominic Smith.

So what will Devers' role be with the Giants? No one really knows yet, according to a San Francisco insider.

On Monday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported that the Giants made the Devers trade without a clear-cut understanding of which positions he'd be willing to play.

"Devers offers little, if any, defensive value. 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," Baggarly wrote.

Baggarly also included a quote from Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who confirmed that Devers' position (or positions) with the Giants was still yet to be determined.

“I don’t know,” Posey said. “Some of it’s just conversations with (Red Sox GM) Craig Breslow and him saying that some of the stuff that’s been in the media was a bit unfortunate. It’s hard to say.

"The reports that I’ve gotten from other people across the industry are that Raffy is a great teammate, loves to play the game, and (I’m) excited to be able to have those conversations with him and figure out how he’s going to best fit into our lineup defensively and offensively.”

Imagine Red Sox fans' pain if Devers is playing first base, a position he notoriously refused to consider trying in Boston, within the next couple of weeks in San Francisco?

Wherever he plays, Devers is one of the best hitters in the game, and the Giants saw an opportunity to get him in exchange for salary relief and ridding the Red Sox of their perceived bad apple. That's why they're waking up excited today, and people around Boston are waking up dazed and confused.