Rafael Devers tells media he won’t play anywhere but third base; won’t DH if team asks him
Rafael Devers met with the media on Monday afternoon, talking for the first time since end of last season. Devers was asked if he was willing to move off third base, opening the door for new teammate Alex Bregman to play the position.
“No,” Devers said repeatedly. “I play third.”
“It’s my decision ... My position is third base. Whatever it is they want to do is what they want to do. But my position is third base,” Devers added.
Devers chatted with the media for roughly 14 minutes outside of Fenway South, maintaining his stance that he will not move off third base and will not be the team’s primary designated hitter.
“Third base is my position,” Devers said through translator Daveson Perez. “It’s what I’ve played. I don’t know what their plans are. I know we had a conversation. I made it clear what my desires are. Whatever happens from here, I don’t know.”
“My position is third base. I don’t know how they want to go about it or what they want to do. But that’s the position I get ready to play every day. That’s just my position.”
Devers was also asked by the media if he wanted to be traded if Bregman is the everyday third baseman.
“That’s a tough answer to give,” said Devers. “I haven’t given it much thought. … but I’m open to listening to what they have to say moving forward.”
Following Devers’ presser, Red Sox skipper Alex Cora spoke to the media, he continued to maintain what he’s been vocalizing since camp opened and after the team signed Bregman, there’s ongoing conversations about the roster construction before heading into the regular season.
“He has a lot of pride,” Cora said. “We know that. He feels like he’s the third baseman. He’s going to work out as the third baseman. And we’re going to make decisions accordingly. Here, it’s not about Bregman or Devers or Cora. It’s for the Boston Red Sox. Whatever decision we make is going to be for the benefit of the team.”
Cora told reporters on Sunday that Devers was happy the club has Bregman and he’s excited about the team assembled for this coming season. The Red Sox haven’t made a decision on where Bregman will play this coming season.
“I don’t want to move (Bregman) around,” Cora said on Sunday afternoon. “He’s willing to do it, but we’ve been moving people around too much lately, and it doesn’t work. For how good he is, and he probably can do it, I think he’ll be elite at second, even at shortstop, and elite at third. One spot will help everybody else.”
Devers has been the Red Sox' primary third baseman since he came up to the big leagues in 2017. The All-Star slugger has been sound offensively during his time in Boston, but defensively, he’s regressed while the errors would pile up. If Bregman moves to his natural position, it would give the Red Sox an infield of him at third base, Trevor Story at shortstop, potentially Kristian Campbell at second base, and Triston Casas at first base.
The idea behind moving Devers to DH would allow the Red Sox a better defensive alignment in the infield while reducing the wear and tear on his body moving forward. Devers dealt with shoulder injuries last season and ultimately landed on the IL.
“We have thought about stuff like that, but his injuries happen,” the manager said. “The only one that has happened playing defense was last year when he dove. The elbow in ‘21, that was not related to defense. We want Raffy to play. We know that. We’ll talk about it and go from there. But I don’t think one thing has to do with the other one. Probably, it’s the other way around. He has gotten hurt swinging the bat.”
The vibes were high at Red Sox camp the last couple of days, especially following the Bregman signing. With Devers upset over where he’ll play this season, it has certainly put a dark cloud over camp, which hopefully will be short-term.
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Unfortunately for Devers, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. He remains the worst fielding third baseman by every metric.