Boston Red Sox Feel The Urgency To Sign All Star Third Baseman Rafael Devers

Traditionally, the Boston Red Sox have been competitive in the American League East.

The rivalry between the Red Sox and New York Yankees has always been intense, but recent games haven’t been as meaningful.

The Red Sox finished last in the American League East, 21 games behind the Yankees. That speaks volumes.

Red Sox fans are among the most engaged, and knowledgable fans in Major League Baseball.

On February 10, 2020, Red Sox fans were livid when Boston traded All Star outfielder Mookie Betts, along with pitcher David Price, to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In return, Boston received infielder Jeter Downs, outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher/second baseman Connor Wong.

Still only 23, the right-handed hitting Downs made his major league debut last season. He played 14 games, hitting .154/.171/.256/.427 with one home run and four RBIs, in 41 plate appearances. Downs struck out 21 times.

Wong, 26, has a total of 70 plate appearances for Boston in parts of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Last year, he appeared in 27 games. Wong hit .188/.273/.313/.585 with one home run and seven RBIs in 56 plate appearances. He struck out 16 times.

Verdugo, a left-handed hitter, was the primary player returned to the Red Sox for Betts and Price.

Verdugo, 26, is coming into his prime baseball years.

Verdugo was drafted by the Dodgers out of Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Arizona in the 2014 MLB First Year Player Draft.

Last season, Verdugo was a regular outfielder for the Red Sox, playing both right and left fields. He hit .280/.328/.405/.732 with 11 homers and 74 RBIs in 644 plate appearances. He struck out only 86 times, showing good bat control, while making good, consistent contact at the plate.

Looking back on that blockbuster trade, Red Sox fans have every reason to be upset.

Betts. 30, has been an All Star six times, including twice with the Dodgers; the most recent being 2022.

Betts has been named to the All-MLB Team three times, in 2019, 2020 and again this year.

Betts has won five Silver Slugger Awards, including one for this past season.

Proving he is a complete player, Betts has won six Gold Gloves, the most recent coming this past season.

A former 5th round pick by the Red Sox in 2011, Betts packs plenty of punch in his 5-9, 180 pound frame.

While Verdugo continues to show promise, Downs and Wong have work to do to establish their credentials as major league players.

If the season were to start tomorrow, fangraphs.com lists both Downs and Wong as utility players on the team’s 26-man roster. Verdugo is listed as the No. 2 hitter in the Red Sox lineup.

Red Sox Lose Xander Bogaerts:

So far this offseason, the Red Sox have addressed improving their bullpen and have added an outfielder.

The Red Sox have signed three-time All Star closer Kenley Jansen to a two-year, $32M contract.

The team signed reliever Chris Martin to a two-year deal worth $17.5M. Martin will probably be the primary set-up man for Jansen.

Boston signed left-handed hitting Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90M contract.

Yoshida, 29, may be the team’s new leadoff hitter, but he is unproven stateside.

Those additions should help. But Boston has lost a very consequential player from their roster.

Right-handed hitting Xander Bogaerts is a four-time American League All Star, having made the All Star team in 2016, 2019, 2021, and last season.

Bogaerts has won five Silver Slugger Awards, the most recent coming this past season.

In 2019, Bogaerts was the shortstop on the 2019 All-MLB team.

In parts of 10 seasons with Boston, Bogaerts has a career batting average of .292.

Last year, Bogaerts hit .307/.377/.456/.833 with 15 homers and 73 RBIs.

Now Red Sox fans can be just as angry as they were when their team traded Betts.

The team’s fans watched as it was announced Bogaerts is signing a massive, 11-year, $280M contract with the San Diego Padres.

The Padres reportedly made offers to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and former Dodgers All Star shortstop, Trea Turner.

When they lost Judge and Turner, the Padres turned their attention to signing Bogaerts. They were successful.

The Red Sox had plenty of time to sign Bogaerts. They clearly tracked his progress towards free agency, but they didn’t finalize an extension.

The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams reported Red Sox chief baseball officer, Chaim Bloom had this to say after Bogaert’s signing was reported. “I expect fans will be hurt. I fully expect that, and I also expect that we’re going to put this together and deliver them winning baseball.”

Hurt? One would expect so. And more.

Signing Rafael Devers Is Imperative:

Having lost Betts and Bogaerts, two-thirds of the highly successful All Star core of the Red Sox now play in opposition uniforms.

Attention now turns to All Star third baseman Rafael Devers. Devers can become a free agent after the 2023 season.

As estimated by fangraphs.com, the 2023 payroll for Boston is $172M, down from $221M the team spent on payroll this past season.

Rafael Devers is in his last year of arbitration, and he is estimated to make $16.9M, unless he signs an extension.

Consider that the Red Sox will be paying often-injured pitcher Chris Sale $27.5M for the next two seasons.

Consider that the Red Sox signed shortstop/second baseman Trevor Story to a 6-year, $140M deal as a free agent last year.

What might Devers, by far the best player on the Red Sox roster, fetch in this final season of team control?

According to baseball analyst Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Red Sox offered Devers $200M-plus. Devers is said to be seeking a 10-year contract worth at least $300M-plus.

About Rafael Devers:

In his baseball prime at the age of 26, Devers could reach free agency next season with years of baseball life remaining.

The left-handed hitting Devers has a very well-proportioned, strong, compact, 6-0, 240 pound frame.

The Red Sox signed Devers as an international free agent for $1.5M out of the Dominican Republic in 2013.

At the time he was signed, Devers was considered to be among the best pure international hitters available. He has lived up to that advanced billing.

This scout first evaluated Devers in 2015, when he was only 18.

At the time, this scout placed a scouting Grade of 60 on Devers, meaning he is an All Star quality player.

Devers was young and raw at the time, but his remarkable knack for hitting was evident.

Devers played parts of only five minor league seasons, making his big league debut in 2017, when he was 20-years-old. He could reach free agency far sooner than most big league players.

Devers has a sweet, powerful, left-handed swing, with plenty of pop in his bat.

Devers is a consistent, steady hitter with excellent bat control and the ability to hunt his pitch and drive the ball off the barrel of the bat.

Regularly hitting the right/center field gap, Devers pounded 42 doubles last season, a career best. He also blasted 27 home runs in 614 plate appearances. He drove in 88 runs, down from 113 in 2021.

Devers drew 50 walks, while striking out only 114 times. He has had some trouble with high fastballs in games this scout has observed, but he is so good, and so reliable, pitchers have a difficult time getting him to chase their offerings.

Devers has never been viewed as a Gold Glove caliber third baseman, but he clearly has enough ability to remain a fixture at the position. His errors decreased last year from 22 in 2021 to 14, as he handed fewer chances.

Devers made both the 2021 and 2022 American League All Star Teams, and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 2021.

Conclusions:

The Boston Red Sox lost both Mookie Betts (traded) and Xander Bogaerts (signed by the Padres as a free agent) from their core of solid, middle-of the order, All Star caliber hitters.

Now, while they have added international outfielder Masataka Yoshida as a free agent, the Red Sox are under immense pressure to sign All Star third baseman Rafael Devers to a lengthy contract extension.