Yankees News: Rafael Devers Forced Trade From Red Sox

The New York Yankees biggest rival, the Boston Red Sox, made headlines the other night when they traded star infielder Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants just two years into his massive, 10-year, $313.5 million contract.

While the trade came as a massive shock to Boston fans, it appears as though malcontent between Devers and the team had been brewing for months. According to a report by CBS Sports writer Julian McWilliams, the Red Sox failed to let Devers know they were pursing fellow third baseman Alex Bregman.

"Devers then showed up to camp out of shape. When asked if he'd consider moving off third base, he responded simply: 'No. I play third,'" McWilliams wrote. "Ultimately, he did make the move to designated hitter, but it didn't come without gripes."

McWilliams went on to describe that Devers, who has been playing primarily at designated hitter this season, refused to take balls at first base in addition to third during spring training and ultimately asked for the trade.

"According to a source familiar with the situation, Devers was asked to take grounders at both third and first base in spring training. He declined — and instead asked for a trade. That request set the wheels in motion for what became a growing divide between the Sox's best player and the front office, led by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow," he wrote.

Relations between Devers and the Red Sox continued to deteriorate as he was asked to play first base in the absences of injured Triston Casas.

"I know I'm a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can't expect me to play every single position out there," Devers said via an interpreter. "In [spring)]training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn't going to play any other position but DH. Right now, I just feel like it's not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position."

Yankees fans can breathe a sigh of relief that Devers is gone. The Pinstripes were swept by a Boston team playing their best baseball of the season this weekend. Now, a Red Sox bullpen without Devers is likely to have a harder and harder time competing with New York.

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