Giants add Rafael Devers in blockbuster trade -

The San Francisco Giants just landed Rafael Freakin’ Devers. Excuse me?!

Forgive me a moment whilst I continue picking up my jaw from the floor. This was not the news I expected to wake up to on a Monday morning. Our Stateside cousins were busy overnight ruminating through this blockbuster trade whilst we Europeans were sleeping, so there’s a lot to discuss and catch up on.

First things first: how does the trade break down?

Red Sox third baseman (and recent DH, we’ll get into that) Rafael Devers was dealt to the Giants for right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison and two prospects, right-handed pitcher Jose Bello and outfielder James Tibbs III.

When I woke up and saw the notification on my phone, my first reaction was overwhelmingly positive in the Giants’ favour; President of baseball operations Buster Posey saw this lineup needed help, they needed an impact bat, and he went out and got one of the top 10 hitters in the game. To acquire Devers for a couple of arms and a pair of prospects not named Bryce Eldridge feels like the Giants instantly won the trade. However, on further inspection, the swap feels like it could be massively beneficial to both clubs, filling a need on both sides. Let’s get into it.

Starting with Devers, the Giants add a three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and 2018 World Series champion. The 28-year-old veteran has a career .859 OPS and consistently hits the ball well; Devers is a career .279 hitter, so he knows how to make contact and when he does, the ball absolutely flies; he has 215 home runs to date, including the final homer of his Red Sox career, a shot over the monster to help Boston sweep the rival Yankees, shortly before news of the trade broke.

Giants fans will already be salivating at the thought of the lefty-swinging Devers crushing splash hits into McCovey Cove for years to come. In 73 games this year Devers has a .272/.401/.504 batting line with 15 home runs, 58 RBI and a 152 OPS+.

Where will he play though? The Giants are already set at the hot corner with Matt Chapman, one of the finest defensive third basemen in MLB history. Chapman is currently on the injured list and looks set to be there for a few weeks, so Devers could instantly plug into third base whilst Chapman recovers.

When Chapman returns, Devers will likely be a DH in San Francisco, the role he has played this season for Boston. This did not come without its controversy, however, and is a huge part of the reason why Devers finds himself shopping for a new house on the West Coast.

Devers had spent his entire MLB career playing third base for the Red Sox but when Boston added Alex Bregman in the offseason, their franchise cornerstone was suddenly looking at a future riding the pine as the team’s full-time designated hitter. Devers has been a serviceable defender throughout his career but lacks the maneuverability of a Chapman or Bregman, so the Red Sox felt it was a perfectly reasonable request to shift Devers into a new role.

Devers didn’t agree and a situation brewed throughout the spring. Devers eventually complied and accepted the move but an injury to Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas in early May put another spanner in the works. Casas was ruled out for the entire season and Boston GM Craig Breslow scrambled for a solution; he asked Devers to pick up a first baseman’s mitt. Once again, Devers didn’t respond well to the sudden change, and refused the request. “They’ve told me I’m a little hard-headed and they already asked me to change once. This time, I don’t think I can be as flexible,” Devers told the media.

Relations had clearly broken down, to the extent that Boston felt content to trade away the face of their franchise, a player in his prime, who had just signed an 11-year, $331 million extension only two years ago.

Boston’s loss is now San Francisco’s gain.

The Giants have done well this year on the back of their superb pitching but their offense has been scraping by, doing just enough every night to scratch out victories – it didn’t feel sustainable. Devers is the kind of player they sorely needed to elevate the Giants lineup from pretenders into contenders.

The Red Sox on the other hand needed pitching and so the Giants bid farewell to Hicks and Harrison, two promising pitchers who showed flashes of greatness during their time in the orange and black, but didn’t make themselves irreplaceable.

Harrison feels like the centrepiece of the trade for the Red Sox, a backend starter right now who could become one of Boston’s top arms in years to come, especially if he develops a truly successful secondary pitch. Tibbs, the Giants’ 2024 first round draft pick and number 4 prospect, may also have a bright future in the bigs, although it’s far too early to tell how the Florida State outfielder will pan out. I wish them all well, regardless.

Our attention now turns to Friday night and Boston’s impending visit to Oracle Park for a must-watch three-game series over the weekend. Devers will be in the lineup against his former teammates and who knows, maybe that first splash hit for his new club will come against familiar faces?

Whatever happens, there’s no doubt the Giants have found themselves a superstar who will improve not just their immediate future, but the team’s title prospects in the coming years. I can’t wait to see how it all transpires.

Ash Day is the San Francisco Giants writer for Bat Flips and Nerds. Read more from him here and follow him on Instagram at @SayHey_UK

Photo credit for featured image by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.