Red Sox Could Acquire $11M Diamondbacks Star To Replace Rafael Devers, Per Insider

The sad truth of the Rafael Devers situation is that the Boston Red Sox simply have to move on.

Players, coaches, and the Boston front office have already shifted their focus to the pennant race. But for Red Sox fans, watching Devers get his first two hits in a San Francisco Giants uniform while the Sox were two-hit by the Seattle Mariners made moving on a near-impossible task.

The only thing that would really help is the addition of a big bat to the lineup to offset the loss of Devers. Wilyer Abreu and Alex Bregman will return from the injured list in the next few weeks, but adding an established slugger from outside the organization would bring some momentum.

MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand proposed one hypothetical option for the Red Sox on Wednesday: first baseman/designated hitter Josh Naylor, who will be a free agent at the end of the season after making $10.9 million in his final year of arbitration.

"Arizona has climbed back into the playoff race with a good start to June, leaving the Diamondbacks in striking distance of a Wild Card spot and still in the conversation in the NL West," Feinsand wrote.

"But Naylor is one of more than a half-dozen impending free agents on the roster, and given that a number of teams could use a big corner-infield bat, it’s possible that Arizona could move Naylor (or Eugenio Suárez) and his expiring contract to address other needs. Potential fits: Giants, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox."

Naylor was an All-Star for the Cleveland Guardians in 2024, but his production has actually been better so far in 2025. He's hitting .302 with an .830 OPS through 70 games, racking up 49 RBI, which is more than anyone on the current Boston roster has in the wake of Devers' departure.

Though Naylor isn't as good an all-around hitter as Devers, the idea of acquiring him to play the role the Red Sox envisioned for their former slugger in the wake of Triston Casas' injury is appealing.

However, the Diamondbacks would likely demand pieces that could help them win now, so the only way to make this deal work may be as part of a larger swap for a cost-controlled Red Sox star like Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu.