LOS ANGELES — Buster Posey has taken his first main midseason swing as president of baseball operations by buying and selling for three-time All-Star third baseman and designated hitter Rafael Devers from the Boston Purple Sox in a surprising deal, in line with a number of stories.
The Purple Sox won’t ship any cash to assist pay for the remaining sum of the 11-year, $330 million extension that Devers signed earlier than the 2023 season, in line with a number of stories.
The membership has not introduced the commerce.
Harrison was scheduled to start out for San Francisco on Sunday in opposition to the Dodgers however was scratched and changed by right-hander Sean Hjelle.
Devers, a two-time Silver Slugger, is one in every of baseball’s finest third basemen. Over 9 seasons within the majors, Devers has a profession slash line of .279/.349/.509 with 214 dwelling runs and 695 RBIs. This season, Devers has an .894 OPS with 14 dwelling runs and 57 RBIs.
The 28-year-old joins a lineup in a lot want of energy. Coming into Sunday, the Giants rank nineteenth in runs (163) and twenty first in OPS (.691) because the starting of Might. On June 4, Posey designated first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for project and signed Dominic Smith as a part of a seismic roster shakeup.
The commerce comes at a time when beginning third baseman Matt Chapman is at the moment on the 10-day injured record on account of proper hand irritation and is about to overlook the subsequent three to 4 weeks. Casey Schmitt has completed a superb job of filling in for Chapman, going 5-for-19 with three homers and 11 RBIs over 5 video games and changing into the primary Big in franchise historical past to hit grand slams in back-to-back video games. That mentioned, Devers will clearly take priority.
Devers has been used completely as a delegated hitter this season, however Devers will probably fill in for Chapman at third base in the meanwhile. As soon as Chapman returns, the Giants must determine the place Devers will play.
Boston’s relationship with Devers grew to become strained this season when the Purple Sox signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman and requested Devers to surrender the place and turn out to be their major designated hitter. Devers publicly expressed his discontent, however finally agreed to the transfer, solely to be requested to play a brand new discipline place when first baseman Triston Casas ruptured his patellar tendon in Might. The Dominican star criticized Purple Sox administration and the workforce finally backed down from the request, leaving him to DH.
Devers has much better profession numbers than Wilmer Flores, the Giants’ present on a regular basis designated hitter, however Flores has been an integral a part of the lineup and leads the workforce with 51 RBIs coming into Sunday.
Flores might slide over to first base and cut up time with the left-handed-hitting Smith, however the Giants have talked repeatedly about utilizing Flores because the designated hitter to maintain him wholesome after he underwent a season-ending Tenex process on his proper knee final yr.
Will probably be fascinating to see whether or not Devers will change his stance on shifting to first base, too.
Regardless of the defensive alignment, it’s clear Devers brings extra offensive firepower to a Giants lineup that went by historic scoring struggles in Might earlier than beginning the month on a scorching streak that has propelled San Francisco into competition within the NL West.
Test again on this growing story.
Initially Printed: June 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM PDT
