Red Sox Insider Confirms Whether Rafael Devers Requested Trade originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The first major domino of MLB trade season fell on Sunday night. The Boston Red Sox dealt slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for starting pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison, in addition to two minor-league prospects, news that was first reported by insider Robert Murray.
Prior to the trade, Devers’ frustration with the Red Sox had been mounting due to multiple requests to change positions. Devers first moved to designated hitter after the club signed third baseman Alex Bregman during the offseason; more recently, the team asked him to play first base after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury.
A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo that Devers never formally asked the Red Sox for a trade. But Cotillo made it clear that a lack of a trade request may not tell the full story.
“This does not mean he was against it,” Cotillo wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “[Red Sox general manager] Craig Breslow felt it was in the best interest of the team to move on and Devers, who had clearly been unhappy for months, may very well have, too. The anger he felt about the way the FO [front office] treated him was real.”
Devers delivered a strong performance in his final game in a Red Sox uniform on Sunday, a game that resulted in a 2-0 win that clinched a series sweep over the New York Yankees. He went 1-3 at the plate and launched a solo home run in the fifth inning that served as his 500th career extra base hit.
Devers, a World Series champion in 2018 and a three-time All-Star, slashed .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs across 73 games with the Red Sox this year before getting dealt.
Related: Red Sox Stun MLB, Trade Rafael Devers to Giants
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.