Your guide to the Rafael Devers trade. Plus: Shohei Ohtani back on the mound tonight

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We have our first absolute stunner of the year: Rafael Devers to the Giants for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and two minor leaguers. Plus: Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound … tonight?! I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!

Big Deals: Rafael Devers traded to Giants

So this is how the saga ends: The Boston Red Sox traded the 28-year-old Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants for RHP Jordan Hicks, LHP Kyle Harrison and two minor leaguers — 22-year-old OF/1B James Tibbs III and 20-year-old RHP Jose Bello.

Wow.

First up: let’s take a look at the players:

• The one with the most upside for the Red Sox is Harrison, who is still figuring things out at 23 years old. His ceiling? A very solid top-half-of-the-rotation starter. But he certainly hasn’t hit that yet. He’s 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA in eight games (four starts) this year.
• Hicks was a very good reliever with the Cardinals but has been a starter in San Francisco, with not-great results — his ERA is 6.47 this year in 13 games (nine starts), and he’s on the IL (toe inflammation). It probably makes sense for Boston to return the 28-year-old to the bullpen, where he can let his fastball eat.
• But Devers is the big shocker. His .401 OBP is a career high, and his .905 OPS is second only to his breakout 2019 season. Even at DH, he’s been worth 2.3 bWAR already. He’s not the sort of player who gets traded … unless it’s a divorce.

Know what’s funny? The Giants could currently use a first baseman, and third baseman Matt Chapman is currently on the IL. No idea if Devers will pack his glove, or if he’ll bump Wilmer Flores from DH to first base.

Meanwhile, in Boston, this clears a lane for Masataka Yoshida to return from a shoulder injury that has kept him on the shelf all season. He’s been capable of swinging a bat for a while now, but can’t yet throw.

Ken’s Notebook: The only thing that matters for Boston

From my latest column:

The only question that matters, in the wake of the Red Sox showing Devers who’s the boss, is this: Are the Sox a better team?

For 2025, it’s difficult to imagine the answer is yes. Beyond that, the Sox might come out ahead, but only if president of baseball operations Craig Breslow puts the team’s savings on Devers — some $255 million over the next eight-plus seasons — to good use.

Based on Breslow’s performance thus far, including his dubious return for Devers from the Giants, believe it when you see it.

There is no drama like Red Sox drama, and their latest messy divorce with a star player is one that figures to generate debate for some time. Only the Red Sox could upstage themselves after sweeping the Yankees for their third straight series win over a division rival and fifth straight victory overall.

This had to happen now? It could not wait until the offseason? By holding off, the Sox might have given themselves a better chance to continue their 2025 revival. They then could have shopped Devers to the entire industry this winter while also using him as a hedge against the possible departure of third baseman Alex Bregman, who is an opt-out waiting to happen.

But nope, the Sox were giddy to find an immediate taker for Devers, and perhaps for good reason. The Giants assumed the remainder of Devers’ 10-year, $313.5 million contract in only its second year, yet still parted with four players.

Sure, Devers’ contract is likely to age poorly. But he is still only 28. And good luck to the Red Sox replacing one of the top 10 to 15 hitters in the game, no matter how many precious prospects they push to the majors.

More Betts angle: “It’s just crazy” — Betts reacts to former teammate’s trade.

Reminders: Devers timeline

February 2024: Devers calls out the Red Sox front office for not investing more money in the roster.

Feb. 15, 2025: Red Sox do invest more money in the roster, signing third baseman Alex Bregman. This is presumably not what Devers meant.

Feb. 17: Devers says he’s not moving off third base.

March 13: After conversations with manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, Devers says he is, in fact, moving off third base.

May 8: After an injury to first baseman Triston Casas, the team talks to Devers about playing first base. He speaks out again, saying, “They can’t expect me to play every single position,” and adding:

“They put me in this situation, and they told me that they didn’t want to allow me to play any other position. Now, I think they should do their jobs, essentially, and hit the market and look for another player. I’m not sure why they want me to be in-between the way they have been.”

May 9: Red Sox owner John Henry flies to Kansas City to meet up with the team and have a conversation with Devers.

May 12: After getting out to a rough start to the season, Devers’ bat heats up, earning him AL Player of the Week honors. Ken says the Red Sox should just leave Devers alone and let him be a successful DH.

May 23: Bregman injures his quad, creating a (temporary) opening at third base. Cora says the team is going to … just leave Devers alone and let him be a successful DH.

June 15: Devers homers as the Red Sox sweep the Yankees. After the game, he is traded to the Giants. I’ll let Jen McCaffrey take the story from here.

Speaking of the Giants …

Do-overs: Giants finally get their star  

Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Bryce Harper … What do they have in common? They were all heavily pursued by the Giants the last time they hit free agency.

Another commonality: None of them actually signed with the Giants.

It’s not that San Francisco hasn’t signed any free agents. Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames exist. But Devers is a different echelon. On last night’s ESPN broadcast, Clayton Kershaw called him a “top-10” hitter in the league “at worst.”

Since his debut in 2017, Devers has hit 215 home runs. Nobody has hit more than 111 (Mike Yastrzemski) in a Giants uniform over that time. Hits? Devers has 1,136, almost 500 more than the Giants’ leader (Brandon Crawford, 645). Pick a category: Runs, doubles, RBIs … nobody’s close.

Of course, one factor is that Devers has played 1,053 games since his debut, and nobody has played more than 762 games (Crawford) for the Giants since then. But that’s actually a supporting argument for this trade. Devers is signed through 2033. He could be the team’s first real long-term superstar since … well, the guy who made this trade.

Even after losing two of three in L.A. over the weekend, the Giants are just two games behind the Dodgers. If there’s a time to go for it, it’s now.

More trade analysis: Keith Law tells us how the pieces fit, including Hicks and Harrison on the Boston pitching staff, while our trio of writers dish out trade grades with more analysis.

Handshakes and High Fives

On Saturday, Ohtani said he could be back on a big-league mound before the All-Star break. Well, now he’ll be the opener tonight against the Padres. More on this tomorrow.

After seven scoreless innings Saturday, Clayton Kershaw is just 12 strikeouts away from 3,000.

For Father’s Day, our Cardinals writer Katie Woo wrote a lovely tribute to her dad.

Kiké Hernández spoke out on the protests in Los Angeles over the weekend. Meanwhile, singer Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at the Dodgers game.

📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.

(Photo: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)

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