Key Takeaways From the Boston Red Sox’s 2025 Season

The thought of talking about the Rafael Devers blockbuster again is nauseating — not because it never should have happened, but because of its execution.

Firstly, had Breslow communicated with Devers before entering a deadlock in which his only option was shipping him to San Francisco, the trade never would have happened.

When Breslow successfully acquired Gold Glover and three-time All-Star free agent Alex Bregman, a series of front office miscommunications sprouted tensions between Devers and the organization.

Breslow informed Devers that no drastic positional changes were imminent upon Bregman’s acquisition, but he reversed his word, asking Devers to switch to the designated hitter role to create a third base opening for Bregman. 

Devers felt betrayed.

Nonetheless, he assumed the DH role. The world moved on for a moment. 

Then, when first baseman Tristan Casas suffered a season-ending injury, Breslow asked Devers to fill in.

For Devers, Breslow was pushing his limits, and he let the world know. 

“They can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers told reporters. “[They] 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.”

Questions of Devers’ negative attitude and inflexibility infiltrating the clubhouse were valid concerns, but Breslow and Co. can’t control how a player reacts. They can, however, control what they say to their players, and when and how they say it. 

More notably, former Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski praised Devers’ clubhouse presence in an interview on Foul Territory. 

He said that Devers was an “awesome teammate,” maintaining that “you have to stick up for yourself” as an MLB player, exactly what Devers did. 

Fortunately, Devers was a slugging gold mine. So Breslow had the option to expel what he saw as a clubhouse cancer — which another club would merely view as an offensive weapon — and give a different stud a fresh start in Boston. 

A trade had its benefits, as any player acquired would enter the organization under Breslow’s leadership, while Devers signed his contract extension under former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, which surely contributed to the differing interpretations of his role on the team.

Still, this would only apply if the players brought back were worth a loss of valuable assets. Breslow’s final package did not check this box. He acquired four players, one of whom he later traded for Dustin May and his eventual 4.96 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and -0.6 bWAR in 2025. The other three were Jordan Hicks (-1.8 bWAR), Kyle Harrison (0.5 bWAR), and Jose Bello, a 20-year-old minor league pitcher. 

None of these players signaled that the Red Sox were serious about a 2025 playoff run, especially in lieu of Devers, who was slashing .272/.401/.504 with a .905 OPS at the time and finished 2025 with a .252/.372/.479 slash line for an .852 OPS (140 OPS+). 

Instead of issuing an apology through action by adding a stud or two, which would have been met with forgiveness from Red Sox fans, Breslow abandoned a star for four numerically replaceable players.

Without Devers in the lineup, the Red Sox became overwhelmingly reliant on 21-year-old rookie Roman Anthony, who spent the first chunk of the season in Triple-A. Before falling to an oblique injury in September, the rookie totaled a .292/.396/.463 slash for a .859 OPS and 140 OPS+ – thankfully for Breslow, perfectly filling the gaping hole that Devers left behind.

History repeats itself unless the populace actively works to produce a different result. The next time Breslow acquires a replacement (Bregman) for a veteran (Devers), communication is crucial. Otherwise, a disappointing trade that settles for replacement-caliber players is an unfortunate likelihood.

If You Don’t Have Anything Productive To Say, Don’t Talk

There are also times when it’s best not to communicate.

After the Devers trade, Breslow asserted the Red Sox intended to buy at the trade deadline, claiming on The Greg Hill Show on WEEI that they were looking to “bolster” the roster to maximize the team’s postseason potential and earn an AL Wild Card spot. 

Press chatter is normal. However, buckling down on buying, less than a month after conducting a historic, groundbreaking blockbuster in which Breslow’s team was widely agreed upon as having been cut short, is dangerous. It allowed opponents to feel Breslow’s hunger at the negotiation table. Opposing teams consequently got greedy, as they knew Breslow was under pressure in his last chance in the 2025 season to mend Red Sox Nation’s Devers fallout wounds.

This is one explanation for Breslow’s failure to acquire his reportedly sought-after targets, Joe Ryan (final 4.5 bWAR, 3.42 ERA) and Merrill Kelly (final 2.9 bWAR and 3.52 ERA) of the Twins and Diamondbacks, respectively. 

Keeping one’s hunger under wraps as much as possible is vital to concealing one’s desperation. Red Sox fans can only hope Breslow knows this for next time. 

A Glimmer of Hope

To his credit, Breslow had his successes this season. He extended Anthony at $130 million over eight years. His acquisition of Bregman proved successful, as the third baseman slashed .273/.360/.462 for an .821 OPS and 3.5 bWAR. He is now expected to opt out of his contract, and whether Boston will attempt to re-sign him is unclear.

Breslow also compiled a team that got a taste of postseason ball, even if it ended in a first-round elimination at the hands of the Yankees, presumably igniting the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry for the team’s young core, who had yet to experience the intensity of these teams facing each other in playoff baseball.

Assuming this rivalrous loss was as painful to the Red Sox’s players as it was for fans, the Red Sox will return to 2026 with a reignited flame.