Boston Red Sox: 3 takeaways from the team’s opening slate of games
Boston Red Sox takeaway No. 2: Rafael Devers in making the Sox front office look foolish
Rafael Devers was willing to have extension talks with the Red Sox this past offseason. The Sox lowballed him, and Devers decided to play out the 2022 season and try to increase his value. And after just six games, it’s beginning to look like that bet may just pay off for Devers.
Boston’s lineup has gotten off to a slow start, but Devers is easily their hottest hitter. He’s hitting .346 with a home run and five runs batted in, and he played a key part in both the team’s wins over Detroit. Heck, his first at bat of the season was a two run moonshot of Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Chaim Bloom and the front office should have known this was coming.
Devers has looked liked a man on a mission to start the season while his teammates struggle to get going. He drove in the game-winning run in Boston’s 5-3 win over Detroit, and was part of the big rally that helped the Sox run their old friend Eduardo Rodriguez out of the game in their 9-7 win yesterday. Without Devers’ contributions, Boston might be sitting at 1-5 right now rather than 3-3.
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It’s still very early, but chances are Devers isn’t going to all of a sudden forget how to hit. He’s most likely going to continue putting up big numbers all season long, and the front office is going to pay as a result.
Bloom’s offseason activity was middling to say the least, and the fact that he couldn’t extend Devers when he had the opportunityto do so is a glaring misstep. They could have had Devers under team control for his prime at a reasonable rate. Instead, Devers is probably going to see his price increase, and there’s a good chance Boston just lost their best chance to extend their best player for the majority of his career.