On Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco, former Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers was officially introduced as a member of the Giants - the team he was shockingly traded to on Sunday in exchange for starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, relief pitcher Jordan Hicks, and two minor league players.
With the 28-year-old spending the entirety of his nine-year major league career in Boston up until now, the image of him wearing a “SF” hat was jarring, to say the least. But for a lot of fans around Red Sox Nation, these images were the first time since the news on Father’s Day that truly made it all feel real.
Raffy is no longer a Red Sox.
No one from the 2018 World Series roster - outside of manager Alex Cora - is on the team anymore.
If this wasn’t already the case before, it’s now abundantly clear that this organization is on to an entirely new era.
For Giants fans, it’s a new era, too.
They finally landed the superstar they so desperately have wanted since winning their last World Series in 2014.
And luckily for them, it seems like that superstar is willing to play whatever position they need moving forward.
“There's a five-time Gold Glover at third base [in Matt Chapman] already - he’s not healthy right now but once he returns, it’s the matter of position,” said Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News. “Have you talked to Buster [Posey] and Bob [Melvin] about potentially playing first base? Do you see yourself more as a designated hitter? And what were those conversations with the Giants brass like regarding your long term position with this team?”
“I'm here to give my 100%,” said Devers through a translator. “I don't put any ‘buts.’ They're the men in charge. I am here to play wherever they want me to play.”
“Do you have a preference, though?” asked Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. “Do you feel like you are best at a particular position?”
“Like I said before, I am here to play whatever they want me to do, and give out my best,” Devers responded.
This topic, of course, was the beginning of the end for Devers in Boston, with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, team president Sam Kennedy and manager Alex Cora all mentioning a lack of “alignment” with Devers on what his future in Boston would look like as the chief reason for inevitably trading the face of their franchise.
His battle with the Red Sox on positional moves has been well-chronicled for months, and ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on Sunday that it was a lack of response by Devers to an in-person plea from owner John Henry for more flexibility from his highest paid player that was, ultimately, the straw that broke the camel’s back.
But if you take comments from both him and Giants brass at face value from Tuesday’s press conference, it appears that this trade may have given Devers a different perspective on how to proceed as a pro.
“We talked to him a little bit today, and like he said, he goes, ‘I'll play wherever you want me to play, I'll hit wherever you want me to hit,’” said Giants manager Bob Melvin. “So that's how it started. He's going to DH today. He's going to hit in the three-spot.
“We're going to work him in and get him some ground balls at first and make sure he's comfortable before we put him over there. And that's pretty much the way we look at it right now. A little bit of DH and a little bit of first.”
While this trade seemed like it came out of nowhere on Sunday, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey explained on Tuesday that this deal had been in the works for some time.
“It’s something that has been in the works for three or four weeks,” said Posey. “You know, Zack [Minasian] had conversations with their group, and then eventually, myself and Craig Breslow the last week-to-10-days. And it was good.
“Obviously negotiations, things are gonna go back and forth. But I was texting with Craig today, and we’re just thanking each other for the candor and the respect that went into this negotiation.”
For the record, that three-to-four-week timeline thrown out by Posey coincides with shortly after the Red Sox road trip to Kansas City.
While things may have soured over the last month between Devers and the Red Sox, his appreciation for Boston fans has not wavered.
“I just wanna thank the Boston fans,” said Devers. “They supported me throughout my whole time there, and that I just want to give them a ‘thank you.’”
Those Red Sox fans will have a chance to watch Devers play against their team in just a few short days, as Boston opens a road series against the Giants on Friday.