Rafael Devers was unexpectedly pulled away from his teammates, signaling that something was amiss. While on board a plane heading for a crucial three-city West Coast trip, the Boston Red Sox found themselves facing an unexpected reality: Devers had been traded to the San Francisco Giants. The deal involved pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, along with two minor league prospects, leaving players bewildered.
Trevor Story expressed the collective shock of the team, stating, “Probably just as shocked as everyone else. That’s the best way to describe it. Didn’t really see it coming. The timing of it comes at a weird time. We thought we were playing really good. It’s a brutal reminder that this game is a business. It showed its face.”
Outfielder Jarren Duran reflected on the moment Devers departed, recalling, “I saw him get off the plane and just thought, ‘Oh, no way,’ but it’s Rafael Devers. I was just shocked to see him leave the plane. They made a decision that they thought was best for us. We have to stick by it and move forward as a team.”
Pitcher Garrett Crochet added, “Tough blow … It was a shock for sure, after the run we just had this past week.”
Manager Alex Cora recounted Devers’s final moments with the team, saying, “He shook our hands and he took off.” Cora acknowledged the initial strangeness of the situation but noted that the team had to adapt. “Obviously, the guy means so much to that group, means so much to the organization, to the city of Boston,” he remarked. “But at the same time, we have to show up.”
As they geared up for their series opener against the Mariners, who are competing for the American League wild-card spot, the atmosphere in the clubhouse was surprisingly upbeat. Players attended pregame meetings and shared lighthearted moments, even as they grappled with the loss of their star player. Infielder Nate Eaton joined the team from Triple-A Worcester, filling Devers’s vacant roster position.
In Devers’s absence, Abraham Toro stepped into Devers’s former batting order slot—a challenge that may prove difficult to overcome, as Crochet noted, “Obviously, he has a big presence in the lineup. We’ll miss that. But we can’t really just sit here and harp on that.”
Cora emphasized the opportunity for other players to step up, stating, “Raffy Devers is Raffy Devers. He’s a special hitter. We all know that. But this is an opportunity for other guys to get at-bats and contribute.”
Devers remains a fan favorite and was leading American League designated hitters in All-Star voting with 796,382 votes before the trade, although he is now removed from the AL ballot due to the move to the National League. Hunter O’Hearn of the Orioles holds the current lead among AL designated hitters at 353,029 votes, significantly trailing Devers’s count.
The day after the trade, Cora was the only management figure to address the team, reinforcing a message of moving forward. Veteran pitcher Walker Buehler remarked, “This is part of the business. We have no reason to get an explanation. They made a decision. Our job remains the same.”
Cora summarized the team’s mindset succinctly: “We gotta keep going. That’s the bottom line. We put ourselves in a good spot. We have played good baseball for an extended period of time. Now we have to do it without Raffy. But at the same time, we added some pieces that we do believe are going to help us, especially obviously in the pitching department.”
Duran echoed that resilience, saying, “[Cora] trusts everybody we got right now. I trust everybody we have now, and we can’t let one little thing deter what we got going so far.” Ultimately, as Duran put it, the team must adapt and focus on their collective strength: “It’s just one guy. So we got 25 other guys who were pulling on the same line to win those series, not just one. So I think we gotta think about it like that, as a team.”