Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m back in your inbox after a few days away on a reporting trip. Thanks to Tyler Lauletta for filling in for me while I was gone. I thought he did a great job.
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In today’s SI:AM:
⚾ Shipping out of Boston
⛳ J.J. Spaun’s triumphant round
⚽ USMNT back on track
The Red Sox are making a habit of this
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Boston Red Sox have traded a star player for an underwhelming return in what appears to be little more than a cost-saving measure.
News broke Sunday evening that the Sox were sending Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for two big league pitchers (Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks), 20-year-old pitching prospect Jose Bello and 22-year-old High-A outfielder James Tibbs III, who was San Francisco’s first-round pick in last year’s draft.
The move came as a bit of a shock because there had been no rumblings that the Red Sox were trying to trade their best hitter. ESPN’s Buster Olney said during the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast that Boston wasn’t actively shopping Devers. But a few teams had called Boston to see if he might be available. The Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays all made inquiries, Sean McAdam of MassLive.com reported.
Devers’s name hadn’t surfaced in trade rumors before the deal was consummated, but it isn’t as though the trade came completely out of nowhere. Devers was known to be unhappy with the Red Sox ever since they signed Alex Bregman in free agency to play third base. The team asked Devers to change his position during spring training. Devers was so miffed by the potential position change that he considered requesting a trade, McAdam reported in March.
Devers has exclusively been a third baseman throughout his pro career—and not a very good one. He’s been a below-average fielder in every season of his big league career, as measured by Defensive Runs Saved. Last year, he also ranked in the bottom 8% of all qualified fielders in Outs Above Average (-6). His -10 OAA on plays to his left ranked dead last among all MLB third basemen, and no other player at the hot corner dipped below -5 OAA on such plays.
Still, Devers refused to entertain a move to first base, even when Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury in early May. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Devers’s refusal to change positions “led to internal tension and helped facilitate the deal.”
As frustrating as Devers’s selfishness may have been, he was still a valuable DH. His 152 OPS+ ranks eighth in the AL this season and is the highest of his career. He also leads the AL with 56 walks, 10 more than anyone else in the league.
The timing of the trade is also puzzling. The team’s patience with Devers may have been running thin, but Boston is also right in the thick of the playoff hunt and now faces the prospect of a stretch run without its biggest offensive weapon. The Red Sox surely could have held onto Devers through the end of the season, giving them a better chance to make the postseason, and then conducted a full-scale offseason bidding war that would have increased their return. Instead, they had to settle for two mediocre major league starters, a 20-year-old reliever who’s still in rookie ball and just one legit prospect.
The trade raises some interesting questions for the Giants, who already have third base figured out for many years to come after signing Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million contract last year. First base has been a weak point for San Francisco all season long, so Devers would make perfect sense there—if he is willing to make the switch.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The Rafael Devers trade is the latest example of the Red Sox needlessly kneecapping their roster, Stephanie Apstein writes.
- Bob Harig was at the U.S. Open, where J.J. Spaun delivered a legendary finish at Oakmont, draining a 64-foot birdie on 18 to cap a wild comeback and claim his first major title.
- A rain‑soaked Oakmont saw hopefuls Sam Burns and Adam Scott unravel, combining for 17-over par in the final round. Michael Rosenberg tracked them through the rain.
- On Monday, SI re-launched its golf newsletter called SI Teed Up. Sign up here. There are signs of hope from the U.S. men’s national team after they snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Trinidad and Tobago.
- Can first-time head coach Liam Coen get the most out of former No. 1 draft pick Trevor Lawrence? Gilberto Manzano dives into Jacksonville’s offseaexamines in the latest installment of 32 Teams in 32 Days.
- The Magic made a bold move, landing Desmond Bane from Memphis in a blockbuster trade that sent multiple picks and players to the Grizzlies and signaled that Orlando is ready to win now.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Braves pitcher Grant Holmes’s 15-strikeout game, the most K’s in a game by any pitcher this season. (Should we dock him at all because it came against the lowly Rockies?)
4. A triple play by the Brooklyn Cyclones.
3. Junior Caminero’s dad’s reaction to his son’s homer.
2. Padres center fielder Brandon Lockridge’s leaping catch in the deepest part of the ballpark.
1. J.J. Spaun’s 64-foot putt to win the U.S. Open.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Red Sox Bail on Another Star With Shocking Rafael Devers Trade.