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Red Sox’s Craig Breslow Drops Major Update on Rafael Devers First Base Drama

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Eduardo Razo | Last updated May 15, 2025 1:15 PM ET

The Boston Red Sox have not found a long-term solution to their first-base problem following the season-ending injury to Triston Casas.

Understanding that their in-house options are limited, Boston turned to Rafael Devers to see if he was willing to play first base, and that didn't go as planned, with the player stating he had no interest in going from designated hitter to playing out in the field again after being demoted from third base.

On Thursday, Chief Baseball Officer for the Red Sox, Craig Breslow, appeared on "The Greg Hill Show" on WEEI to discuss where the team stand regarding who will be taking most of the reps at first base.

"I think we're evaluating all of those situations at the same time," Breslow said. "I think there is—there was—the short term. We obviously brought up [Abraham Toro-Hernandez], and then Romy [González] got hurt. And we had [Nick] Sogard, who's filled in, done a really nice job.

"But I think we want to think about: What does this look like over the next few weeks? And then also, what does this look like longer term? So nothing has been eliminated, but we have to be realistic about how long a transition might take. This was never something that we were going to have the answers to in a matter of days."

When will we get past the Devers/1B dilemma? #Redsox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins! #MLB
Breslow: "Raffy is emotional, and he is invested"... "We will continue to talk and engage." @WEEI pic.twitter.com/Ov3Uf8LqAK
— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) May 15, 2025

Moreover, Breslow didn't dismiss Devers playing first base despite the player's reaction expressing his reluctance to do so.

"My preference is for these things to remain internal," Breslow added. "But Raffy, he's emotional and he's invested, and he cares a ton about the Boston Red Sox. And he obviously had some frustration that he shared in real time. And since then, there have been a number of conversations and meetings.

"Obviously, [Red Sox owner John Henry] and [Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy] and I flew out to Kansas City. I think the temperature has calmed down a bit, and we're going to continue to talk — we're going to."

The MLB trade deadline is still weeks away, so Boston have time to figure out whether they can solve their first base problem internally or they'll eventually need to find a solution externally and make a trade.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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