Red Sox's Craig Breslow Gives Telling Non-Answer On Rafael Devers Disagreement

Reasonable minds can agree that both Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox's decision-makers have made missteps this year.

The Red Sox should have been much more up front to Devers about the probability of moving him to designated hitter. Instead, they signed Alex Bregman and moved Devers to DH against his stated wishes. Then, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow asked him to move to first base when Triston Casas got hurt.

But Devers still shouldn't have been caught off guard by the Bregman move, especially because reports suggested the Red Sox would have likely traded for Nolan Arenado had they not signed Bregman. And when he was asked to move to first, he pinned the whole thing on Breslow as though no one in the clubhouse also wanted him to make the switch.

The dust appears to be settling, and Devers appears to have gotten his way. But that doesn't mean the tension between CBO and player is suddenly gone.

During a Thursday appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Breslow was asked if he was frustrated by Devers' refusal to play defense and try and help his team at all costs. His answer was really a non-answer, but it still spoke volumes.

“I think best to keep that opinion to myself and in conversations between Raffy and me," Breslow said, via Nat Gordon on X.

Obviously, Breslow was put in an awfully tough spot here. He knows if he says he's frustrated, it's the source of every headline in town for the next 24 hours. On the flip side, if he says he's completely fine with what Devers has done, he'll get accused of being spineless and indecisive.

But there's definitely still a strange disconnect between the organization and Devers, with Breslow at the center of it. That's not to say that the ridiculous rumors that Devers is going to be traded should kick back up, but there's work to be done here to repair the relationship.

Devers committed to being with the Red Sox for the best years of his career, if not the whole thing. The two sides are to some degree stuck with each other, but it also makes the most sense for everyone if they can find a way to get back on the same page.