Rafael Devers unloads on Craig Breslow, Red Sox after request to move to 1B

Rafael Devers unloads on Craig Breslow, Red Sox after request to move to 1B

It’s been a rocky two months between the Boston Red Sox and slugger Rafael Devers.

In mid-February, after months of rumored speculation between adding a third baseman, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal, moving Devers off the position he’s spent the last decade playing in the Red Sox organization.

While he was the worst defensive third baseman in baseball, he made it clear he was not happy about the initial request. Though he didn’t make too big of a fuss after his initial remarks heading into spring training, transitioning into Boston’s full-time DH.

Last week, Boston first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury. Since they don’t have a good-enough replacement, Devers confirmed that team president Craig Breslow approached him about playing first base for the time being.

He declined, but completely besmirched how the organization went about the whole multi-month-long process of moving him off his primary position to play DH, just to be asked to play a position he’s never played before.

“I know I’m a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers said, via translator. “In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove — that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH. So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.

“Now I think they should do their job essentially and hit the market and look for another player (to play first base). I’m not sure why they want me to be in between the way they have me now. … I don’t think they stay true to their word. They told me I was going to be playing this position, DH. And now they are going back on that. So yeah, I don’t think they stay true to their word.

“I don’t understand some of the decisions that the GM makes. Next thing you know, someone in the outfield gets hurt, and they want me to play in the outfield. I think I know the kind of player I am.“

According to Twitter account Boston Strong, Devers’ translator misspoke about what Devers intended versus what the translator actually said.

I really don’t understand how an organization like the Boston Red Sox have the WORST translators. In this video Rafael Devers literally says that if he has to play 1B, they can’t expect him to do it right away because he’s not like other players that adapt quickly. pic.twitter.com/9Yze8fQ386

— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) May 8, 2025

The person that translated every quote from Rafael Devers today should be FIRED right now, he made him look awful and didn’t translate what Devers said exactly. He even asked him twice to repeat what he said because he didn’t understand the first time.

— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) May 8, 2025

Red Sox reporter Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Globe reported that reactions inside the clubhouse from his teammates were “not positive.”

Several of them were listening intently around the clubhouse and the reactions were not positive. https://t.co/Sm11hjI3BB

— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) May 8, 2025

Whew, is this a mess.

I understand both sides of it. You could make the case that this situation was handled poorly by the front office with how they approached the situation from the very beginning. However, Devers is also being asked to play a position out of necessity–not because they’re planning on changing his position again in the long-term. His teammate is out for the year and Devers, you could argue, is the best option to play 1B if the Red Sox want to field the best possible team on a day-by-day basis.

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You could argue that publicly pigeonholing Devers to DH looks bad, but he’s being asked to play a different position because his teammate shattered his knee and the next-best replacement (arguably) for that position.

Obviously, the communication between the 28-year-old and Breslow isn’t smooth. That bridge may not be burned, but the match has been lit. We don’t know what was said behind closed doors, but Boston’s superstar, who’s on contract for north of $300 million, is not happy.

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