Rafael Devers to the Giants?! Grading a shocking blockbuster
The trade: The San Francisco Giants acquire DH Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox for LHP Kyle Harrison, RHP Jordan Hicks, OF prospect James Tibbs and minor league RHP Jose Bello.
It’s rare we get an out-of-the-blue trade featuring one of the game’s best hitters, and it’s even more rare when it happens in the middle of June involving teams in playoff contention. Given everything Devers and the Red Sox have battled throughout this season — his initial anger at being moved off third base when the team signed Alex Bregman and later his refusal to move to first base when Triston Casas went down because of an injury — maybe it’s not as surprising as it first appears.
The Red Sox aren’t immune to controversial moves, having traded Mookie Betts in 2020, but this one certainly will be a fun one to argue about on social media, with enough hot takes to burn off the late summer fog in San Francisco.
Let’s grade it.
San Francisco Giants: For the Giants and new top executive Buster Posey, the impact of this trade is obvious: They get their best hitter since Posey himself was at his peak and certainly their best power hitter since Barry Bonds, the last Giants player to hit 30 home runs, a figure Devers has reached three times. After beginning the season with five hitless games, Devers is now hitting .272/.401/.504 after hitting his 15th home run in Boston’s 2-0 win on Sunday over the New York Yankees. He has seen a huge spike in his walk rate, boosting his OBP well above his career mark of .349. If that walk rate holds (he’s second to Juan Soto in walks drawn), it raises Devers’ offensive game to a new level.
Of course, Devers has his issues. The Red Sox moved him off third base for good reason. The Giants have Gold Glover Matt Chapman there, so a return to third remains out of the equation for Devers. Giants first basemen have been among the worst in the majors, ranking 26th in OPS, with Dominic Smith getting most of the action lately after LaMonte Wade Jr. was traded to the Angels. But the most likely scenario is Devers remaining at DH with Wilmer Flores shifting over to share first.
The other issue is Devers’ contract: He’s 28 years old and signed through 2033, making this the second year of a 10-year deal that will run through his age-36 season. That puts some degree of risk on his long-term value, but Devers has been a consistent hitter throughout his career — his top 10 similarity scores on Baseball-Reference include three Hall of Famers in Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Ron Santo, plus a couple of likely future Hall of Famers in Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Granted, those guys were or are much superior defenders, but Devers compares to them as a hitter.
He does move from Fenway to Oracle Park — and San Francisco’s ballpark is part of the reason no Giants player has hit 30 home runs since Bonds. Devers’ career splits are interesting: He has hit for a higher average at home (.292 versus .267) but with more home runs on the road (120 to 95). He’s going to lose some of those cheap doubles he hits off the Green Monster, so maybe his average dips a little, but I think his power will translate just fine.
Bottom line: The Giants have been looking for that big middle-of-the-order hitter for years, from Bryce Harper to Aaron Judge to Shohei Ohtani. Now they have one and didn’t surrender any of the pitchers on a staff that ranks third in the majors in ERA. The National League West race — and the Giants were just a game back of the Dodgers at trade time — just got a lot more interesting.
Grade: A-
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have been hard to understand for years now, since the Betts trade, operating more like a mid-major market than the team that had the highest payroll in the majors in 2018 and 2019. Under that lens, this trade is not only the dealing of a disgruntled star with a ruptured relationship with the organization, but coincidentally enough, dumping a player with a huge salary.
The timing will also create minor shockwaves: The Red Sox just swept the Yankees and have won seven of their past eight games, getting back into the playoff picture after a disappointing first two months. The spin from Boston will be interesting, focusing on Devers not stepping up and putting the team first. And that’s not an inaccurate spin, even if the Red Sox have clearly mishandled this situation from the start.
They also have all of their top prospects playing for the big league team now, from recent call-up Roman Anthony to Marcelo Mayer to Kristian Campbell. Manager Alex Cora has been platooning Anthony and Mayer, which is silly; they need to be playing every day, even if they get exposed a bit against left-handers. Trading Devers opens up at-bats for everyone and helps clear the outfield logjam of Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder — but they’re not going to be able to replace Devers’ production just yet.
Harrison is a talented left-hander, once a top pitching prospect in the minors who hasn’t quite put it all together in the majors — but he’s also still only 23 years old. He had a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts as a rookie last season and has a 4.56 ERA in 23⅔ innings so far in 2025. Boston has optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester, but with Tanner Houck injured and Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito both fighting ERAs on the wrong side of 5.00, Harrison could be a potential rotation option later in the season. As for Hicks, the Giants tried the hard-throwing right-hander as a starter, but it never really worked, so he’ll be in the bullpen.
Tibbs was the Giants’ first-round pick last June out of Florida State, an outfielder hitting .245/.377/.480 in High-A. He might be something, although let’s see what happens when he’s bumped up to Double-A.
Given Harrison’s potential upside, it’s not fair to completely slam the Red Sox. Devers has a big contract, but it doesn’t feel out of line with some other recent deals — such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500 million contract. Maybe the Red Sox will take those savings and go after some more pitching help, either at the trade deadline or in the offseason.
Still, when you’re looking to trade a player because of a broken relationship, it’s hard to get fair value in return — and it feels as if the Red Sox came up short here. Maybe this will prove to be the best move for the organization in the long run, but their playoff hopes for 2025 take a hit.
