Red Sox Blasted By Rival Execs For 'Brutal' Handling Of Rafael Devers Trade

Unfortunately, it's going to be a long time before the Boston Red Sox can ever truly escape the fallout of the Rafael Devers trade.

Devers has been a member of the San Francisco Giants for three weeks now. He's already had peaks and valleys in a new uniform. But many are still recovering from the shock of his original team trading him in his ninth season in the big leagues.

The Jun. 15 trade sent Devers--and his entire 8 1/2-year, $254.5 million contract--to San Francisco for reliever Jordan Hicks, starter Kyle Harrison, outfield prospect James Tibbs III, and pitching prospect Jose Bello. It was a move made in part to dump salary, and in part because the relationship with the team's franchise player was unsalvageable.

On Monday, Jayson Stark of The Athletic penned a list of first-half takeaways from the Major League Baseball season, and included nuggets from rival executives who were still in shock over what the Red Sox did.

“Who’s (their) headliner?” said an American League executive. “That’s my big thought. Even if you just accept the decision to trade him in the first place and say we’re not going to debate that, I still think they could have and should have done better than they did.”

The value proposition of the Devers trade can be debated all day, because the main prize the Red Sox got was recouping the full cost of the contract. But what's unmistakable is that the Red Sox (and Devers) handled the entire situation poorly.

“What stands out the most is just how brutal the communication (with Devers) was on their side,” said a National League exec.“It’s made me think about how we treat players (in his team’s organization) — how players are treated and respected, and the value of good communication, and how that affects and creates culture... I can’t even fathom that happening.”

With each passing day, Devers becomes more of a Giant and less of a Red Sox. Both teams are still trying to make the playoffs this season, and they don't have time to be concerned with each other.

But the trade will be the context in which both organizations are judged for several years to come. In that sense, the story has barely begun.