"Is this a real deal?" Major league executives were shocked by the Devers trade

When the news of the Boston Red Sox trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants began to spread yesterday, the reactions of the league's executives ranged from shock to bewilderment.

"Is this deal real?" Shortly after the news broke, when the deal had not yet been officially announced, and there was still more than an hour before the official announcement, an American executive said, "Oh my God! ”

The Giants sent pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison, outfielder James Tibbs III (the Giants' No. 4 rookie and the 13th pick in the 2024 draft) and 20-year-old backup pitcher Jose Bello to Boston in exchange for heavy gunner Devers. The three-time All-Star continues to run a superbly striking run in the 2025 season.

Executives at rival teams are trying to make sense of the extremely rare blockbuster deal struck in mid-June.

"I think it gives Boston a chance to realign and distribute a lot of money," said one Midland executive, "and for the Giants, it's getting the kind of punch that they've struggled to get through drafting, development or trading (without paying a lot of top rookies)." ”

While most executives stressed that they didn't know anything behind the scenes between Defuss and the Red Sox, it was widely believed that the disagreements between the two sides this year over Defuss' role with the team were one of the reasons Boston decided to part ways with the player.

After signing third baseman Alex Bregman last offseason, the Red Sox told Defuss that he would no longer be a defender and that he would be the team's full-time designated striker (DH) this season. When Triston Casas suffered a season-reimbursing injury, the Red Sox asked Devsus to practice first-base and consider letting him guard first base, but Devs. refused and criticized team management in the process.

"On the surface, it looks like a story that wasn't worked out from the start and eventually the relationship broke down," said one Coalition executive, "and now the outcome could be good for both parties." ”

One National League executive noted that in addition to getting out of that tension, Boston also freed up salary space and got a young pitcher like Harrison who could help the team in the short and long term.

"They also got Hicks, who might be better suited to stay in the bullpen," the National League executive said, "Tibbs adds rookie depth, and Belho is a newcomer to watch." It's definitely an interesting deal. ”

Sources say the Red Sox did talk about being willing to trade Devers, but it would be an exaggeration to say that they were aggressively promoting him. The deal, which involved five players, was finalized more than six weeks before the July 31 trade deadline and was the most shocking of all.

"Considering Boston's lack of options, that's a pretty good return," said one League executive, "and I think there could have been a way to get him to first base — maybe in 2026 — but it would have required some pretty good diplomacy on the side of [baseball president] Craig Breslow." And at the same time, they can't adjust the position of [designated to hit Yoshida]. I was amazed that they were able to get back quality players while getting rid of such big contracts. ”

Devers' contract has generated as much buzz in the industry as the players involved in the deal itself. Devers is currently in the second year of that 10-year, $313.5 million contract, and the Giants will take on the remaining eight years of the contract until 2033, totaling more than $250 million to Devers.

"The Red Sox are getting weaker today, but I don't want to touch Devers' contract," said one American League executive, "and Harrison could be a good pitcher." It's a good deal for the Red Sox in the long run. It's too long for a designated blow to sign a contract for that long. ”

Players who have never signed a contract of 10 years or more are traded so early in their contract, with Devers only entering the second year of his contract. Alex Rodriguez (from Ranger to Yankee in February 2004), Giancarlo Stanton (from Marlin to Yankee in December 2017) and Richie Zisk (from Ranger to Sailor in December 1980) were all traded after the third year of their respective 10-year contracts.

"I think history shows that if you can get out of this kind of long-term contract two years later, you're in a much better place," said one Midland executive.

Both Rodriguez and Stanton were traded to the Yankees, and in both deals, the Yankees received cash paid by each other to share a portion of the former MVP winner's salary. The Giants, on the other hand, are fully responsible for the remainder of Devers' contract, a detail that has caught the attention of many executives.

"It's crazy for a team to trade a player away in the second year of his 10-year contract — and it's even crazier for another team to be willing to take on the rest of that player's entire contract, especially when the player is still so openly about what positions he's willing to play and what he doesn't want to play," said one National League executive, "and it's even more surprising that the timing of the deal is coming in." He's a very good hitter, and of course the Giants can use a stick like him — and what team wouldn't want to use a stick like him — but the deal was a real surprise. ”

"Having both Devers and [Willy] Adames' contracts is going to make life very hard for the Giants in a few years," said another National League executive, referring to the seven-year, $182 million contract that Adames signed last offseason. "Devers' contract is now negative. Giving up Harrison and Tibbs in order to take on a negative equity contract was costly. That looks okay for San Francisco in the short term, but when it stacks up with Adames' contract a few years later, it could cause big problems for the team. ”

It would take years to evaluate a deal of this magnitude, but the industry's first reaction was that while the Red Sox were getting a good return, the key to the deal was what Boston could do with the money they saved by trading the Devers contract.

"The average fan would never think about what the team could do with that money now after throwing off a big contract," said one National League executive, "and Boston should trade players like [Brewers first baseman] Rhys Hoskins right now." In that case, the meaning of the deal would be completely different. ”

"They've really gotten some good players with potential, so when you look at those players and what they can get in exchange for the money they free up from Devers' contract, I think the Red Sox did a good job," another National League executive concluded, "but what was much more important than the player returns was that they traded Devers and his entire contract." They had just signed him for a new contract extension and changed their minds so quickly on such a big contract, which really shows that they felt they had to trade him, which is actually very difficult. They moved quickly, kept a low profile, and eventually made the deal. ”