We have a better understanding of the unique difficulties of each position more right now than we ever have. This has led to teams becoming increasingly willing to shift players to different positions in an effort to have their best lineup on the field to or allow opportunities for their younger players to develop. Most of these players, especially those who have already been paid, have been willing to move. Mookie Betts moved to a more difficult position to allow the Dodgers to get a better bat into their lineup by freeing up a position where better bats are easier to come by. Bryce Harper slid to a less premier position both to protect his body as he gets older and because he knew his right field defense was no longer serviceable. That is what the superstars, especially the ones who already have the checks coming in, do. There is no longer any personal concern about playing at the flashiest position or the one you feel most comfortable playing for the purpose of earning the big payday. You have earned the luxury of being able to focus on team success and doing what you can to make your team the best one. And then there's Rafael Devers.
Some quick background for those who don't know. Rafael Devers debuted for the Red Sox in 2017 at 20 years old. Through the first 8 seasons of his career, he has a 126 OPS+. The list of guys that can say that is very short. His glove, on the other hand, has left a lot to be desired. One of his 8 seasons grades out very well by Statcast but average by more traditional metrics. The other 7 all grade out at around the 20th percentile in the league. Despite the poor defense, Devers's bat earned him a 10 year $330 million deal with the Sox headed into his age 26 season. He apparently put a bunch of work into his defense in 2023 and 2024, but it did not pay off. He has led the majors in errors since his arrival in 2017.
So it sounds like Rafi has had his time to improve his defense at third and the clock has hit midnight. You would think that if the Sox had a prospect at third or had a chance to sign a great third baseman that they would have a chance to play the position. No need to wonder because the Sox signed Alex Bregman this offseason who plays gold glove defense at the hot corner. So the Sox are moving Rafi off of third, right?
Well if you ask Mr. Devers, it's a simple "no." In his first interview at spring training, a reporter asked how he would react if he was asked to move to DH. There was no need to speak through his translator to give a simple "no." A small portion of this part of the interview did go through his translator and apparently Rafi's translator omitted him saying that he'll play wherever he wants. So Rafi has an ego, most professional athletes do. But in this case Rafi needs to stop being an idiot and cast his ego aside. Here are a bunch of reasons why.
If he's worried about the Hall of Fame:
I’ve got bad news for him. Nolan Arenado had 31.4 WAR through his age 27 season. Devers has 22.5 WAR through his age 27 season in a season and a half more playing time than Arenado had at that point in his career. If we compare him to J-Ram, who had 27.6 WAR through age 27, things look a little better. J-Ram has almost doubled his total in the four seasons since, which is not the kind of potential upside that Rafi has. This is all to say that compared to his peers at the position, Devers is not in that top tier and will end his career firmly in the hall of very good. Sliding to DH may actually improve his WAR total, too. Rafi has four seasons at -10 DRS or worse. Positional adjustments give a full time fielding third baseman 17 runs of value over a full time DH. While Rafi’s defense is not quite -17 runs bad, I think that not having to focus on fielding will improve his offense to a point that it becomes close.
If he's worried about his pride:
Then he needs to grow up. He’s got the contract. The $330 million is steadily flowing in. I’d argue that making errors and flubbing plays is more hurtful to your pride than accepting a spot at DH anyways. If someone at your job told you that you could stop doing everything you’re not great at and could just do the stuff that came naturally to you for the same exact pay, wouldn’t you do it? I think most people would, especially if they had to step in from of a camera and talk about their mistakes on a daily basis. Rafi also happens to play for a franchise with the most celebrated DH in baseball history. The city of Boston would probably be more accepting of this move than any other city.
If he's worried about the team:
Let’s not fool ourselves, he’s obviously not. If he were worried about the team, he’d move! Bregman is a gold glove third baseman. His defense will be much better at third than Rafi. Something else Rafi doesn’t seem to care about is that three of the top four Sox prospects play second and/or short. If Rafi played third, Bregman would have to slide to second. With Trevor Story returning from injury and playing short, none of these prospects would have a significant spot in the lineup without an injury. Rafi playing third wouldn’t just handicap the team for the time being, but potentially hurt the future of the franchise.
So many players have been willing to slide positions to help their team. That is the kind of thing superstars are supposed to do for their teams. Devers needs to understand that the most important thing is optimizing the Red Sox lineup which can only be done if he becomes a DH. Rafi signed a lucrative contract and was paid like a thrid baseman. It's now competley up to the Red Sox to decide what they want to do with him. If they decide he's a DH now, it's on him to be the DH of the Red Sox with a smile on his face. Grow up Rafi.
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