Rafael Devers and the remaining eight and a half years of his contract are gone, traded to the San Francisco Giants in a shocking Sunday night blockbuster. In exchange, the Boston Red Sox got Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and Jose Bello.
So, who are these guys? WEEI’s Rob Bradford had prospects expert Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline on his “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast Monday to break down the return. Listen to the full episode above.
Like most, Dykstra was shocked by the trade and underwhelmed by the return.
“I was shocked. I was just shocked,” Dykstra said. “It feels like the Sox are going for quantity here so that they can point to, ‘Hey, we got a bunch of guys for this contract,’ when it's not great pieces. Tibbs can end up being a top 100 guy. Maybe getting him with that Red Sox hitting group that has developed guys so well with that speed, with power, maybe he can make that jump, but he's not there right now. Kyle Harrison, like you said, has been stock down compared to where he was two years ago as a prospect. Jordan Hicks isn't who he is. And Bello, the pitcher, is a Complex League lottery ticket at best, who probably profiles as a reliever. So they're just pointing to, ‘We got a bunch of guys, but really the big thing is, we no longer have Devers’ contract.’”
Ultimately, how good of a return the Red Sox got will likely come down to the development of Harrison and Tibbs. Hicks is 28 years old and has split time in the majors between being a starter and a reliever, but he really struggled as a starter this season for the Giants and figures to be more of a bullpen arm for Boston. Bello, as Dykstra mentioned, is a 20-year-old lottery ticket who hasn’t even pitched at the Single-A level yet.
Dykstra, however, believes there is at least some reason to be excited about Harrison, a 23-year-old lefty starter with big-league experience, and Tibbs, a 22-year-old first baseman/outfielder who was a first-round pick last year.
“I would be most excited by Harrison, I think, because there's the most to mold there still,” Dykstra said. “You got somebody who has major league experience, who has seen that show, but took enough dings where he's willing to come to a new team and be like, ‘Do what you need to do to get me better, to make me better, to make me somebody who's going to stick in a rotation instead of make some spot starts here and there.’ And I think he still has a better upside than Tibbs does.
“Tibbs might end up being the better player. I mean, normally I would say take the guy who has everyday potential, and he has that, but it's corner outfield/first base. If he's going to end up being a first baseman, which very well might happen, he's going to need to hit. He's going to need to reproduce these numbers that he's doing in the minor leagues, not only at the upper levels, but in the major leagues someday. And that's still a big question mark. I mean, that's the reason why we don't have him in the top 100. It's like, how is this power going to play the higher he goes? And what happens when he's facing better curveballs and better changeups? Because that's where he's been having the swing and miss issues to this point.
“So, I think Harrison's kind of in that sweet spot where he's seen the majors, he knows what he needs to work on, he's going to come to the Red Sox with notes, they're gonna have notes for him, and he ends up being a starter. Hicks isn't going to be a starter, so that that knocks him down a peg for me.”
Harrison has been optioned to Triple-A Worcester to begin his time in the Boston organization, while Tibbs will report to Double-A Portland.