Throughout the past few years, Major League Baseball has produced a number of legitimate ball players from all around the world, including Third Baseman Rafael Devers, hailing from the Dominican Republic. One of the best international players in baseball, Devers has seen his popularity rise year by year, and he has become one of the hottest attractions in the game. The lefty has been with the Boston Red Sox for his entire professional career, but a change may be in store within the next few seasons. With his time under contract with Boston nearing the end, it’s time to ask ourselves a question, “What’s next?”.
Questions about Devers' place within the Red Sox’s future have arisen heavily since the end of the lockout and beginning of the new baseball season. The power-hitting lefty has shown improvement with the bat year by year, and is coming off a career season in which he slugged 38 homerun’s, en route to his first career All-Star bid. As of May 4th, Devers’ 122 OPS+ ranks third best amongst Boston hitters, only trailing J.D. Martinez (159), and Xander Bogaerts (165). And while he’s never been particularly gifted with the glove, he has shown considerable strides this season. The talent that he possesses is almost impossible to overlook, and it’s clear that it’ll take a lot to extend the lefty long term.
Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox currently have control of Devers for two more seasons including 2022, but after that he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any club. As expected, Devers is asking for a large sum of money, somewhere in the $300-350 million range for his next contract, and is also looking to earn a long term deal. The Red Sox have a decision to make on whether they’ll spend that much to extend the lefty. Bloom, the Chief Baseball Officer for the Red Sox has shown in the past an unwillingness to spend large sums of cash on one player, though things may be starting to change after the signing of Trevor Story for $140 million this past offseason. There’s a big difference between $350 million and $140 million, but the way things look right now, Devers is pretty deserving of his asking price. He’ll be only 27 once his time expires with the Red Sox, and whoever wins the Devers sweepstakes will likely be winning his prime as well.
Back in 2020, the Red Sox faced a similar situation in regards to what to do with their franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts, who had been the face of their franchise for the past five years. After compiling numerous awards and honors, including one Most Valuable Player award, four All-Star selections and four Gold Gloves with the Red Sox, the right fielder's asking price was expectedly extremely high. The Red Sox tried to engage in talks with the three time silver slugger winner on a new contract extension, but the two parties were unable to reach a deal. Instead of allowing Betts to enter free agency without compensation, Bloom wisely traded Betts away before his contract expired, to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Much to the demise of many Red Sox fans, that may end up being the case with Devers too. Right now, the Red Sox sit in fourth place in the American League east, one of the strongest divisions in Major League Baseball. The bats have yet to really do anything, and the pitching has been slightly above average at best. If peripherals tell us anything though, it’s that by the end of the season the bats should be on the rise, whereas the arms should be on the decline. It’s only been a month into the season, so it’s hard to really form a definitive opinion on the outlook of the club, but it’s safe to say that they have not met expectations so far. If the Red Sox are still underperforming by the trade deadline, their best bet may be to trade away Devers to a contending club.
Back in April of 2022, reports surfaced that Devers had rejected an extension from the Red Sox, and that the lefty would not renegotiate during the season. According to Chris Cotillo of Mass Live, “The sides were very far off”, as it was reported that the front office had offered Devers a $200 million extension, far less than the $300 million extension that he had asked for. Two years before the Red Sox could potentially lose the lefty for good, they’d be hard pressed not to capitalize off of Devers if they are truly unwilling to meet his asking price. This deadline might be the best time to do it too; if the team continues to struggle but Devers continues to perform, his time with the Red Sox may be coming to an end, long before many expect it too.
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