David Ortiz Sensed Rafael Devers Red Sox Tenure Wasn T Going To End

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 9:56 PM

david ortiz sensed rafael devers red sox tenure wasn t going to end

Over five months after the Boston Red Sox shockingly sent All-Star slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, you can count Hall of Famer David Ortiz among those still unsure if the Red... Boston dealt Devers, the face of the franchise and one of the sport’s premier hitters, to the Giants in mid-June for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, as well as minor-league pitcher Jose Bello... The Red Sox later traded Tibbs, the No. 13 pick in 2024, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for veteran pitcher Dustin May. The Devers trade came over two years after signing an 11-year, $331 million contract extension that would have kept him in Boston through 2033. However, Devers notably refused to move to DH or first base following Alex Bregman’s arrival last spring, though the nine-year vet eventually gave in and spent his final weeks in Boston as a full-time...

“Unfortunately, things didn’t work for the organization to be on the right track,” Ortiz told the “ITM Podcast” last week. And unfortunately, sometimes you have to make those moves. I don’t argue that with the owners. They are the boss. They are the ones who ask you how much you want on your contract. They agreed [on extending Devers].

“But remember, you are an employee,” Ortiz continued. “You’re not a boss. There are not two bosses. There’s just one. John Henry.” The Rafael Devers trade was the most explosive moment of the Boston Red Sox's 2025 season, and it could take many more years to digest.

Devers was meant to be the Red Sox's face of the franchise when he signed a 10-year, $313.5 million extension before the 2023 campaign. Just two and a half years later, he was playing for the San Francisco Giants against the Red Sox, clubbing a home run off former teammate Brayan Bello. A lot of people took the Devers trade hard, but Red Sox legend David Ortiz stands out among that group. Ortiz was vocal in the wake of the trade about his displeasure with the circumstances that led to the trade, particularly with how Devers handled things. If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google. Now that the dust has settled at the end of th season, Ortiz is still bothered by the fact that Devers isn't a Red Sox, but he wants it to be known that it's...

Hall of Famer David Ortiz works for the Boston Red Sox as a special assistant to the Fenway Sports Group. But he said his opinion of the Rafael Devers trade is informed more by his 14 years as a player with the Red Sox than his current role with the club. “I played for the Red Sox a long time,” Ortiz said Monday. “You think everything with me and the Red Sox was roses and flowers? I went through some tough times also. But I was mature enough to understand and keep things internal.

Even in the best families, between the best brothers, s— happens. You need to have the maturity to resolve the problems and move on.” Ortiz, 49, experienced occasional turbulence in his contract negotiations with the Red Sox. Some of the squabbles went public, but he ultimately finished his career with the team. In 2017, one year after he retired, the Red Sox signed him to what they described as a “forever” contract, enabling him to play a variety of roles with the club. Devers, 28, did not resolve his problems with Boston’s front office.

And on Sunday, the Red Sox made one of the most stunning baseball trades in recent memory, sending Devers to the San Francisco Giants for right-hander Jordan Hicks, left-hander Kyle Harrison, outfield prospect James... Ortiz, a colleague of mine at Fox Sports, does not consider the Red Sox blameless in the breakdown of their relationship with their best hitter, a homegrown slugger who was in the second year... But after Devers’ initial resistance to becoming a DH and subsequent refusal to play first base, Ortiz said, “I knew it wasn’t going to end well. There was too much going on, you know?” The Boston Red Sox’s 2025 campaign was hectic to say the least. Despite trading away their best hitter, Rafael Devers, midway through the season, the Sox still managed to find their way to the playoffs.

Looking back at that trade months later, the legendary David Ortiz has mixed feelings on Boston’s decision to cut bait with Devers. While Ortiz and Devers never played together in the majors, the former served as a mentor to the latter during his rise through the Red Sox’s farm system. For much of his career, it seemed like Devers was set to become the heir apparent to Ortiz as the team’s superstar designated hitter. Devers wasn’t happy when he was moved to designated hitter before the start of the 2025 season, though, and with tensions boiling, the front office eventually decided to send him to the San Francisco... Ortiz admitted that you never want to lose a hitter with Devers, but he agreed with the team deciding to do what it felt like was best for the organization “You don’t want to let go of a batter like him,” Ortiz told Joey Copponi and Scott Neville on the “ITM Podcast” on Friday.

“My thing with the situation is that I would expect a guy like Raffy to be one of the faces of this organization … Raffy is a good kid. Don’t get that caught up in the confusion. And that’s what bothers me most … We’re dealing with a good kid. Unfortunately, things didn’t work for the organization … Sometimes you have to make those moves. I don’t argue that with the owners … They are the ones who ask you how much you want on your contract. They agreed (to Devers’ contract).

But remember, you are an employee. You’re not a boss. There are not two bosses. There’s just one. John Henry.” David Ortiz has chimed in on the stunning Rafael Devers trade.

The Red Sox legend spoke to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Monday, saying the Devers-Red Sox relationship “wasn’t going to end well.” “I played for the Red Sox a long time,” Ortiz said. “You think everything with me and the Red Sox was roses and flowers? I went through some tough times also. But I was mature enough to understand and keep things internal. Even in the best families, between the best brothers, s–t happens.

You need to have the maturity to resolve the problems and move on.” After Devers pushed back against becoming a designated hitter earlier in the season and then refused to play first base, Ortiz said, “I knew it wasn’t going to end well. There was too much going on, you know?” Sunday’s surprising trade between Boston and the Giants came after months of drama between the Red Sox and Devers, who had been a third baseman in the past. One of the biggest storylines early in the season was the complete disconnect between Rafael Devers and the Red Sox. The situation was messy from start to finish, largely because Devers felt misled by the organization.

“Devers, according to a person familiar with his thinking, felt 'lied to and betrayed' by the Red Sox. Cora, long one of Devers' chief supporters and advocates, supported his expulsion. Craig Breslow, the Red Sox's chief baseball officer whom Devers publicly badmouthed amid the hostility, played hatchet man,” MLB’s Jeff Passan wrote. As a result, Devers was traded to the San Francisco Giants. “The Red Sox had just pulled off a three-game sweep of the rival Yankees for their seventh win in the last eight games and were getting ready for a Sunday night West Coast trip... Star slugger Rafael Devers, the lone remaining player from the team’s most recent World Series title squad of 2018, was dealt to the Giants for righty Jordan Hicks, lefty Kyle Harrison and a pair...

4 prospect at the time of the deal) and righty Jose Bello,” MLB.com’s Ian Browne wrote. During an interview on the ITM Podcast, David Ortiz shared why Devers’ time in Boston came to an end. Send this article to your social connections. Send this article to your social connections. David Ortiz said he knew the situation between Rafael Devers and the Red Sox wasn’t going to end well. Devers, who began his career with playing third base for the Sox, initially bristled at the idea of switching to designated hitter.

He made the switch and produced at the plate, but the Red Sox asked him to make another position switch to first base after Triston Casas went down with a season-ending injury. The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a shocking move on Sunday night. The trade ends a long saga between Devers and the front office in Boston. When the Red Sox originally signed Alex Bregman, Devers pushed back, noting that he would keep playing third base. Eventually, he was made the everyday designated hitter. However, things took another turn when Devers was asked by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to play first base in the wake of Triston Casas' season-ending knee injury.

"They told me that they didn't want to allow me to play any other position," Devers said in a rant to the media. "And 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." "Here in the clubhouse, thankfully, the relationship that I have with my teammates is great," Devers continued. "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. And yeah, that's just where I stand." His public comments against Breslow were likely the tipping point in the relationship. While the organization is not completely free of fault, Red Sox legend David Ortiz called out Devers.

David Ortiz Sensed Rafael Devers Red Sox Tenure Wasn T Going To End

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