Red Sox trade of Rafael Devers looks smart amid Giants' struggles

Mar 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) walks to the dugout after striking out during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox, amid some internal issues last season, traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a blockbuster trade well before the trade deadline.

While Devers played solid down the stretch for the Giants, and the players the Red Sox got back haven't been great, the trade might actually have aged in the Red Sox's favor, strictly looking at Devers.

The Red Sox were flamed for trading Devers, but as ESPN's David Schoenfield highlighted by calling Devers the biggest disappointment at first base, their decision to trade Devers might have actually aged well.

Red Sox's decision to trade Rafael Devers looks to be right one

Schoenfield writes that, "It's like he's forgotten how to hit." For someone like Devers, whose main value comes from his offense, that's some very bad news.

While the return for Devers hasn't aged well, the decision to trade the superstar slugger itself might've been the right call.

This season, Devers has accounted for -0.9 bWAR with a .211 batting average, a .548 OPS, and a 57 OPS+. He's been a net-negative for the Giants this season, which has made the trade for Boston look like a smart one.

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There is a massive issue with this trade still, and it's the return the Red Sox got for Devers. James Tibbs was traded for Dustin May, while Kyle Harrison was dealt for Caleb Durbin. The only other returns from this deal were Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello.

Overall, the return for the Devers trade was severely disappointing. From that perspective, the decision to trade Devers wasn't a good idea. But, if the players they got back were playing better, this trade would look very smart this season.

With how much Devers is struggling, Craig Breslow is looking somewhat smart for parting with Devers last year. The only issue, and it's a big one, is that they didn't get much of anything in return.

But that doesn't take away from the decision to trade Devers looking like the right one with how much the veteran slugger is struggling with the Giants this season.

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