Report: Red Sox Veterans 'Not Happy' With Rafael Devers' Comments, Stance On Position

The drama swirling around Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox has reached, if you'll excuse the punchline, a fever pitch.

The Red Sox are going to take the field and play a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. And that's kind of amazing, given all the distractions surrounding the clubhouse right now, after Devers publicly refused to play first base in the wake of the injury to starter Triston Casas.

Devers unloaded on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, saying he couldn't believe that as a former player himself, Breslow thought Devers could make the transition. He also essentially told the front office to go find someone else to play first base, because he wouldn't do it himself.

Devers also insisted that the relationship with his teammates was unstrained as he was turning down the club's request. But according to one report, not all of those teammates are in lockstep with the 28-year-old slugger.

During an appearance on the "Foul Territory" live show on Friday, MassLive's Christopher Smith reported that another member of the media in the clubhouse during Devers' comments overheard a teammate who had three strong words for the designated hitter.

"One reporter told me, though, that one of them said to, 'Just stop talking,'" Smith said. "I didn't hear that, but while Rafael Devers continued to answer questions, somebody just said, 'Just stop talking...' I didn't hear that player directly, but that's what I was told, and a couple of players were talking about it.

"We've also, at MassLive, learned that a couple players, veteran players that have been around the league a long time, were not happy with the situation, with his inflexibility and also the way that he brought it out publicly."

There's been a public outcry about Devers' statements in the last 24 hours, but the opinions of the other 25 players in the clubhouse are what matter the most. There's rarely an instance in which teammates being upset with a certain individual's actions or words is good for the ballclub.

This saga isn't going away anytime soon, but the Red Sox also have to shift their focus to winning games, which begins with a three-game road series with the red-hot Royals. And the longer Devers refuses to play first, it seems as though his teammates might only grow more frustrated.