Rafael Devers to the Giants?! Grading a shocking blockbuster

The trade: The San Francisco Giants get DH Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox for LHP Kyle Harrison, RHP Jordan Hicks, OF imaginable James Tibbs and insignificant league RHP Jose Bello.

It's uncommon we get an out-of-the-blue commercialized featuring 1 of the game's champion hitters; it's adjacent much uncommon erstwhile it happens successful the mediate of June betwixt 2 teams successful playoff contention. Given everything Rafael Devers and the Red Sox person battled passim this play -- his initial choler astatine being moved disconnected 3rd base erstwhile the squad signed Alex Bregman and aboriginal his refusal to determination to archetypal base erstwhile Triston Casas went down with an wounded -- possibly it's not arsenic astonishing arsenic it archetypal appears.

The Red Sox aren't immune to arguable trades, having traded distant Mookie Betts backmost successful 2020, but this 1 surely volition beryllium a amusive 1 to reason astir connected societal media, with capable blistery takes to pain disconnected the precocious summertime fog successful San Francisco.

Let's people it.

San Francisco Giants: For the Giants and caller apical enforcement Buster Posey, the interaction of this commercialized is obvious: They get their champion hitter since Posey himself was astatine his highest and surely their champion powerfulness hitter since Barry Bonds, the past Giants subordinate to deed 30 location runs, a fig Devers has reached 3 times. After beginning the play with 5 hitless games, Devers is present hitting .272/.401/.504 aft hitting his 15th location tally successful Boston's 2-0 triumph connected Sunday implicit the New York Yankees. He has seen a immense spike successful his locomotion rate, boosting his OBP good supra his vocation people of .349. If that locomotion complaint holds (he's 2nd to Juan Soto successful walks drawn), it raises Devers' violative crippled to a caller level.

Of course, helium has his warts. The Red Sox moved him disconnected 3rd basal for bully reason. The Giants person Gold Glover Matt Chapman there, truthful a instrumentality to 3rd remains retired of the equation for Devers. Giants archetypal basemen person been among the worst successful the majors, ranking 26th successful OPS, with Dominic Smith getting astir of the enactment of precocious aft LaMonte Wade Jr. got traded to the Angels. However, the likeliest script is Devers remaining astatine DH with Wilmer Flores shifting implicit to stock first.

The different contented is Devers' contract: He's 28 years aged present and signed done 2033, making this the 2nd twelvemonth of a 10-year woody that volition tally done his age-36 season. That puts immoderate grade of hazard connected his semipermanent value, but Devers has been a accordant hitter passim his vocation -- his apical 10 similarity scores connected Baseball-Reference see 3 Hall of Famers successful Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Ron Santo, positive a mates of apt aboriginal Hall of Famers successful Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Granted, those guys were oregon are overmuch superior defenders, but Devers compares to them arsenic a hitter.

He does determination from Fenway to Oracle Park -- and San Francisco's ballpark is portion of the crushed nary Giants subordinate has deed 30 location runs since Bonds. Devers' vocation splits are interesting: He's deed for a higher mean astatine location (.292 versus .267) but with much location runs connected the roadworthy (120 to 95). He's going to suffer immoderate of those inexpensive doubles helium hits disconnected the Green Monster, truthful possibly his mean dips a little, but I deliberation his powerfulness volition construe conscionable fine.

Bottom line: The Giants person been looking for that large middle-of-the-order hitter for years, from Bryce Harper to Aaron Judge to Shohei Ohtani. Now they person 1 and didn't surrender immoderate of the pitchers connected a unit that ranks 3rd successful the majors successful ERA. The National League West contention -- and the Giants were conscionable a crippled backmost of the Dodgers astatine commercialized clip -- conscionable got a batch much interesting.

Grade: A-

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox person been hard to recognize for years now, ever since the Betts trade, operating much similar a mid-major marketplace than the squad that had the highest payroll successful the majors successful 2018 and 2019. Under that lens, this commercialized is not conscionable the dealing of a disgruntled prima with a ruptured narration with the organization, but coincidentally enough, dumping a subordinate with a immense salary.

The timing volition besides make insignificant shockwaves: The Red Sox conscionable swept the Yankees and person won 7 of their past 8 games, getting backmost into the playoff representation aft a disappointing archetypal 2 months. The rotation from Boston volition beryllium interesting, focusing connected Devers not stepping up and putting the squad first. And that's not an inaccurate spin, adjacent if the Red Sox person intelligibly mishandled this concern from the start.

They besides person each their apical prospects playing for the large league squad now, from caller call-up Roman Anthony to Marcelo Mayer to Kristian Campbell. Manager Alex Cora has been platooning Anthony and Mayer, which is silly; they request to beryllium playing each day, adjacent if they get exposed a spot against left-handers. Trading Devers opens up at-bats for everyone and helps wide the outfield logjam of Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder -- but they're not going to beryllium capable to regenerate Devers' accumulation conscionable yet.

Harrison is simply a talented lefty, erstwhile a apical pitching imaginable successful the minors who hasn't rather enactment it each unneurotic successful the majors -- but he's besides inactive conscionable 23 years old. He had a 4.56 ERA successful 24 starts arsenic a rookie past play and has a 4.56 ERA successful 23⅔ innings truthful acold successful 2025. Boston has optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester, but with Tanner Houck injured and Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito some warring ERAs connected the incorrect broadside of 5.00, Harrison could beryllium a imaginable rotation enactment aboriginal successful the season. As for Hicks, the Giants tried the hard-throwing right-hander arsenic a starter, but it ne'er truly took, truthful he'll beryllium successful the bullpen.

Tibbs was the Giants' first-round prime past June retired of Florida State, an outfielder hitting .245/.377/.480 successful High-A. He mightiness beryllium something, though let's spot what happens erstwhile helium gets bumped up to Double-A.

Given Harrison's imaginable upside, it's not just to wholly slam the Red Sox here. Devers has a large contract, but it doesn't consciousness retired of enactment with immoderate different caller deals -- similar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500 cardinal contract. Maybe the Red Sox volition instrumentality those savings and spell aft immoderate much pitching help, either astatine the commercialized deadline oregon successful the offseason.

Still, erstwhile you're looking to commercialized a subordinate due to the fact that of a breached relationship, it's hard to get just worth successful instrumentality -- and it feels similar the Red Sox came up abbreviated here. Maybe this volition beryllium to beryllium the champion determination for the enactment successful the agelong run, but their playoff hopes for 2025 instrumentality a hit.

Grade: C