Red Sox's Rafael Devers Trade Served As Message To Rookies, Per Report

Unraveling why the Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers on Sunday could take years to unpack. But their motivations have certainly started to become clear.

After months of haggling with their highest-paid player to put the team first when it came to the position he would play, the Red Sox decided they had had enough. They shipped him to the San Francisco Giants, along with the entire $255 million remaining on his contract, for a four-player package that doesn't contain an established star.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow angered a lot of Red Sox fans with the move. But he sent a message, not only to the fan base, but to the young players on the roster.

According to a Monday report from MassLive's Sean McAdam, the presence of highly-touted rookies Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and Roman Anthony on the roster caused the Red Sox to worry about the optics of Devers' refusal to cooperate, and may have helped facilitate the trade.

"When Devers balked at moving to DH in spring training, then rebuffed the team’s entreaties to give first base a try after the season-ending injuries to Triston Casas, the Red Sox feared that the team’s culture was being damaged by the All-Star’s intransigence," McAdam wrote.

"If Mayer, Anthony et al observed Devers refusing to put the team first by trying a new position because of a sudden need, what sort of message would that send to the first-year players?"

If there was any doubt that the presence of the so-called "Big Three" contributed to Breslow's rationale, the CBO's words during his joint press conference with CEO Sam Kennedy on Monday night certainly back up the notion.

“I think culture is always important,” Breslow said (via McAdam), “but I think it’s magnified when you have young players who are coming to the big leagues and trying to acclimate themselves to this lifestyle, expectations and demands and to understanding that they need to convert their emotions from being happy to be here to being willing to do anything that’s needed to win as quickly as possible.

“We’re very deliberate about the environment that we’re creating to support these guys and making sure that the messaging is the right type of messaging, so that three, four, five years from now when there’s another wave of exciting young talent that’s infusing our major league team, they have set the standard that will be easy to pass on.”

That may be GM-speak, but it's still plain to see how much the youngsters mattered here. It's their team now, and they're going to be asked to be good stewards. Unfortunately, there's also a lot more pressure on them without Devers to drive in runs.