Devers was hitting .272 with 15 home runs and had driven in 58 runs at the time of the trade. He had 215 career home runs and 696 rbis and was borderline hall of fame player already. He'll definitely be missed by the fans.
So who did the Sox get in return? Jordan Hicks has been a mediocre pitcher his whole career going 16-33 with a 4.23 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and the Giants. He was 1-5 with a 6.47 ERA this season and at 28, is definitely not the guy you want in a stretch run.
Kyle Harrison was a 3rd round pick by the Giants back in 2020 out of high school and was perfectly mediocre since he made his ML debut in 2023. Last year he was 7-7 with a 4.56 ERA in 23 starts and was 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA in 8 games this year. He's a .500 pitcher and it doesn't look like he'll be anything else moving forward. He could be the next Nick Pivetta at best.
James Tibbs was the Giants first round pick 13th overall last year out of Florida State University. He was hitting .245 with 12 home runs and 32 rbis for the Eugene Emeralds in High A this year. Only one problem....he hits lefty. The Sox have way too many lefty hitting outfielders as it is, but then again, he won't be ready for a year or two anyway. At least he's hitting better than Yophery Rodriguez, the kid they got in the Quinn Priester trade.
Jose Bello is a 20 year old Dominican kid who's allowed 4 runs in 18 innings for the rookie Giants. He might be a prospect, he might not be. Either way, he's not going to contribute to this year's team at all.
So now for the big question, why? Why do this? It all goes back to spring training when Devers wasn't happy about the Alex Bregman signing and the Sox front office telling Devers to step aside for him. Then when Triston Casas went down, they asked Devers to play first base for the first time in his career and he outright refused. Sox owner John Henry met with Devers personally in Kansas City last month and apparently that didn't go well. Rumors are the final straw was Devers not running out that grounder against Tampa Bay last week. There's two ways to look at this, the cynical way is the Sox once again traded a franchise player for virtually nothing just like Mookie Betts. This might backfire big time and send the Sox in a tailspin with Casas out for the season and Bregman & Abreu on the Injured List. The Sox traded the last man standing of the 108 win World Series Champion 2018 Red Sox that should have been a dynasty if it wasn't for John Henry's sudden penny pinching ever since. Now the other way to look at it was Devers was a malcontent that didn't want to do what was best for the team. With so many rookies playing, you don't want someone like that set an example the rest might pick up on. After all, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz both regressed in 2011 when Josh Beckett stopped giving a damn. They also just freed up the DH spot for Alex Bregman when he comes back and they're going to keep Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer in the lineup. They still have one more move to make in the outfield, but this frees up $250 million and gets rid of a malcontent....if you look at it that way. The bottom line was Devers' days were numbered when he told the front office to go pleasure themselves and Sox GM Craig Breslow showed who was the boss for better or worse. Its a shame the Red Sox self destructed the 2018 team, and that's how you go 86 years without a ring.
As for the game, the Red Sox offense were held to just 4 hits and 2 measly runs by Logan Gilbert and the Seattle Mariners. The good news was Lucas Giolito (3-1, 4.73 ERA) was up to the task, blanking the Mariners for 6 innings while allowing just 3 hits. Roman Anthony belted his first career home run in the first inning to put the Sox ahead and Abraham Toro drove in a run in the top of the third for the only offense of the game. The trio of Justin Wilson, Greg Weissert and Aroldis Chapman pitched in to slam the door on the Mariners. The Sox had won their 6th straight game by beating Seattle 2-0 at T-Mobile Park.
The Sox wasted no time getting to Gilbert in the top of the first inning as Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Abraham "El" Toro popped up to short but Roman Anthony clobbered his first career home run to put Boston on top. Carlos Narvaez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Giolito got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and JP Crawford walked to start. Julio Rodriguez grounded into a double play and Cal Raleigh flied out to center to end the inning.
Marcelo Mayer grounded out to first to start the top of the second before Trevor Story struck out swinging. David Hamilton popped up to second to end the inning. Jorge Polanco struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Randy Arozarena lined out to center. Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging to open the top of the third before Kristian Campbell watched strike three go by. Duran tripled into the right field corner and El Toro beat out a grounder to second to score Jarren to increase the lead. Anthony struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Giolito ran into trouble in the bottom of the third as Dominic Canzone got a base hit to left to start. Ben Williamson also dropped a base hit to left and Cole Young ripped a base hit to left to load the bases with nobody out. Somehow Crawford struck out swinging, Rodriguez also went down hacking, and Raleigh also struck out swinging to end the inning. Giolito pulled the Houdini for sure.
Narvaez flied out to left to start the top of the fourth before Mayer struck out swinging. Story walked and Hamilton struck out swinging to end the inning. Polanco popped up to second to start the bottom of the fourth before Arozarena struck out swinging. Tellez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Duran struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth before Campbell took strike three. Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning. Young struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Williamson took strike three. Young struck out swinging to end the inning.
Old friend Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the top of the sixth and El Toro walked to start. Anthony flied out to left and Narvaez grounded into a double play to end the inning. Giolito returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth and Raleigh grounded out to second to start. Rodriguez struck out swinging and Crawford struck out swinging. Crawford struck out swinging to end the inning. Giolito utterly dominated the Mariners going 6 innings while allowing just 3 hits and a walk.
Zach Pop came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Mayer grounded out to first to start. Story grounded out to short and Hamilton also grounded out to short to end the inning. Justin Wilson came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Polanco got a base hit inside the bag at third to start. Arozarena popped up to short and Dylan Moore pinch hit for Tellez. Polanco stole second and Moore drew a walk, but Canzone popped up to third. Williamson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Rafaela grounded out to second to start the top of the eighth before Campbell got a base hit to center. Trent Thornton came in to face Duran and Jarren flied out to center. El Toro struck out swinging to end the inning. Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Young walked to start. Crawford walked as well but Rodriguez lined out to center. Raleigh struck out swinging and Polanco popped up to third to end the inning.
Anthony popped up to third to start the top of the ninth but Narvaez walked. Mayer struck out swinging and Story flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox had just 4 hits in the entire game. Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Arozarena struck out swinging to start. Moore went down hacking and Donovan Solano pinch hit for Canzone. Solano struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won their sixth game in a row 2-0.
Sox win
Hero of the Night is Lucas Giolito. He blanked the Mariners for 6 innings and struck out 10 batters.
Lucas Gio-Hero
The Good:
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Kristian Campbell was 1 for 3.
Justin Wilson tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Greg Weissert pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 13th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Roman Anthony was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Trevor Story was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Final Thoughts:
So even though the trade was yesterday, the fallout carried over to today when the Sox front office called a press conference. Sam Kennedy looked like a total fool saying "our record the last 25 years speaks for itself" when he wasn't even around then, Larry Lucchino was. Craig Breslow offered himself as a human shield saying "I think we'll win more games than we would have otherwise." In other words, he's banking his career on the Sox winning more games without Devers than they would with him. If they go into the tank, the Sox brass will just fire him like they did Chaim Bloom. Bottom line is the Sox charge the highest prices in the league for merch, tickets and beer yet trade or let go one star after another. Getting rid of a malcontent may help the clubhouse but why would future free agents sign here if they know the club cares more about who's the boss and making money than winning rings? As for the game, good win but the offense has totally evaporated since last week's loss in Tampa. Scoring 17 runs in 6 games isn't good but the pitching has been out of this world since that Tampa game as well. The Sox have a real power outage with Devers gone along with Alex Bregman, Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas all out. Still, the pitching held up tonight but you can't expect to win every game 2-1 or 1-0. Still, Giolito looked good for the second start in a row and the Sox pitching has been on fire. Hope it stays that way. The win improved the Sox to 38-36, 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. The Sox look to make it seven wins in a row and two straight against Seattle tomorrow night when Walker Buehler (5-4, 5.01 ERA) looks to continue the hot streak against Bryan Woo of Seattle. The game begins at 9:40 PM Eastern time at T-Mobile Park.
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