Rafael Devers…What an attitude

[Cusecards]

As a Cards fan I admit to not knowing that much about Devers situation in Boston.
I know he can hit.
Sounds like a below average fielder at 3B.
Also sounds like he is unhappy with the Sox FO over some things.
Based on that I might be hesitant to deal for him?

[jw0595]

I guess Devers doesn't realize The Man happily played full MLB seasons at all three OF positions as well as first base? Or that Pete Rose played 2nd, third, first, and LF?

What an A-Hole!

Ya… the Red Sox shamefully forgot to reinforce how players need to model themselves after Pete Rose.

Between the white lines, I'd want every player to play the game like Pete did...

Point is...when guys like Pete, Stan, Jackie Robinson, were asked to change positions for the good of the team, they did so without complaint because they were team first guys.

Couple more thoughts- I read the entry- Maybe he thinks the transition will hurt the team because he doest think he’ll do well at first. Or maybe he still wants to prove he belongs at third.

That makes perfect sense unless you are the coach. You want to play 3rd? Do this little thing for the team & we'll see what we can do. Show us some glovework & we can consider other options....

[Clubmaker2]

The dishonesty is he signed a long term contract promised to be the 3b, they then bring in Alex B...and say it is a new GM, dont have to honor organizations previous promises made to you.....so congrats you are the DH now... This is primary problem, he did not want to give up 3b and become DH, but reluctantly finally did. Apparently never polite or nice to Devers about this whole thing, portraying him poorly.

now, its oops, we need a favor, 1B guy got hurt, now move from DH to 1B, even though we told you to put your glove away . So he is like, change of story again, no thanks, GM's problem, not mine. Karmas a B#$**&^. They have really mistreated this guy. He has had enough.

[riff raff]

The dishonesty is he signed a long term contract promised to be the 3b, they then bring in Alex B...and say it is a new GM, dont have to honor organizations previous promises made to you.....so congrats you are the DH now... This is primary problem, he did not want to give up 3b and become DH, but reluctantly finally did. Apparently never polite or nice to Devers about this whole thing, portraying him poorly.

now, its oops, we need a favor, 1B guy got hurt, now move from DH to 1B, even though we told you to put your glove away . So he is like, change of story again, no thanks, GM's problem, not mine. Karmas a B#$**&^. They have really mistreated this guy. He has had enough.

He should pick up his glove and take his (donkey) out to first base. And don't forget to cash those enormous checks $$$$$$$$

[ramfandan]

As a Cards fan I admit to not knowing that much about Devers situation in Boston.
I know he can hit.
Sounds like a below average fielder at 3B.
Also sounds like he is unhappy with the Sox FO over some things.
Based on that I might be hesitant to deal for him?

Below average’ fielder you say ?
141 career errors at 3rd since 2017 … led In errors 4 of 7 seasons since then.
Above is why Boston was seeking to move him off 3rd
Only his agent would label him that. .. ‘below average’

[Quincy Varnish]

Weird that a player has to agree to switch like that, especially to DH, and then to 1B. Tatis Jr. had never played RF before he was switched there after he had already signed his $300 million extension as a SS. Was that a big deal? Then after moving him to RF they had the nerve to play him 7 games in CF! How dare they!

Mookie Betts has been switched many times, mid season even. In 2023 he played 107 games in RF, 70 at 2B, and 16 at SS. He hadn’t played SS in over a decade at the time.

Again, he isn’t the first player to go through this. He took it terribly and made himself look terrible in the process.

You could cite a thousand more examples of players changing positions, but I’d guess you won’t know how any of them felt about it.

I’m only suggesting that maybe Devers doesn’t need to be attacked for voicing his opinion. If the Red Sox didn’t have the sense to make it clear he might be changing positions at some point in his career, that’s on them.

Voicing an opinion...well...that's certainly one way to look at it.

Of course, another way would be to say a young man making $30 million a year is acting like an entitled, spoiled baby.

Was there a gag order in his contract? I believe you mentioned Jackie Robinson…

Does his contract guarantee him a specific position?

No contract does.

It does sound as though Devers had some assurances they were committing to him at 3B. If not, the BoSox wouldn’t be playing the “that was then, this now” tune. Within a few months of agreeing to DH, and being told he wouldn’t be playing the field, they want him to play 1B.

Something drove him to make this public, and I sincerely doubt it’s mere entitlement or “spoiled baby” bull[shirt], as another poster assumed.

[ScotchMIrish]

He’s a diva. I’d still take him in STL if Boston wants rid of him.

Terrible defensive player. I doubt the phone in Boston is ringing off the hook with teams wanting Devers.

[Cusecards]

As a Cards fan I admit to not knowing that much about Devers situation in Boston.
I know he can hit.
Sounds like a below average fielder at 3B.
Also sounds like he is unhappy with the Sox FO over some things.
Based on that I might be hesitant to deal for him?

Below average’ fielder you say ?
141 career errors at 3rd since 2017 … led In errors 4 of 7 seasons since then.
Above is why Boston was seeking to move him off 3rd
Only his agent would label him that. .. ‘below average’

LOL
I was being diplomatic.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

I have no problem with his “attitude”. He is their franchise player, and they moved him off of 3B because of Bregman. Now that Casas is injured again, they want to move him to 1B.

Maybe he should be handling it differently…. but when they reached that long term agreement, it wasn’t just the Red Sox making a commitment… Devers committed to them also, so maybe he shouldn’t be getting kicked around.

Airing his grievances to the media is a bad look, but we have no idea how things with the Red Sox are being handled internally.

This 100%.

People talk about this kind of stuff all the time. A big name free agent is available at a position that is currently filled on a team well, maybe he'll sign and play another position. A team signs a big contract for a player at one position and then should just expect that player in a year or so to move over just because the team now wants to sign or trade for a different player who plays the same position? Yes, that team made the player a big offer to sign with them, but I'm sure that player was getting a bunch of other offers as well. Am I'm sure that promises like, "you're our franchise (whatever position) for the next (x amount of years)" get made, along with all kinds of other promises.

When both parties agree to those terms, why should one party all of a sudden be expected to change his terms? I don't know what all went on behind the scenes with this, so I can't get too mad at Devers here.

[Wattage]

I guess Devers doesn't realize The Man happily played full MLB seasons at all three OF positions as well as first base? Or that Pete Rose played 2nd, third, first, and LF?

What an A-Hole!

Ya… the Red Sox shamefully forgot to reinforce how players need to model themselves after Pete Rose.

Between the white lines, I'd want every player to play the game like Pete did...

Point is...when guys like Pete, Stan, Jackie Robinson, were asked to change positions for the good of the team, they did so without complaint because they were team first guys.

Even beyond players of past years, just look at a guy like Contreras. He was signed to be a catcher and a month into the contract the team was moving him off of catcher. Did he complain to the media? Did he throw a public hissy fit and say he wouldn’t be moving to another position? No, because he’s the kind of player you want on your team.

I seem to remember they tried to move Contreras to outfield first & he basically said no. He never played in the outfield & was back catching a few weeks later. Now granted this offseason he did do what's best for the team & agreed to switch to 1B/DH, but he did do something similar to what Devers did when asked mid season. Which could make some sense, I could see how making a switch mid season could possibly lead to injuries where given a chance to prepare in the offseason might make it more palatable to the player.

Honestly in this scenario the biggest issue to me is with the team telling a player to lose his glove. Just tell him in the offseason we're going to switch you to mainly DH & backing up 1B & 3B. That way he would know to maybe do some work on receiving balls at 1B during the offseason & when your 1B goes down it's not coming out of left field when you ask the guy to play 1B for a while. (plus he would have gotten a few spot starts when the regular 1B had a day of to acclimate to the position)

Granted it's a bad look for Devers, he would have been better off saying something like "I'll do whatever's best for the team but if the front office was considering this as a possibility it would have been nice of them to tell me during the offseason so I could actually prepare to play a position I've never played before" It would show he is a team player but also allow him to air his grievance with the way it was handled in the offseason.

That wasnt confirmed because contreras never spoke about oztfield to.media, but it could be very possible thats how it went down as there were reports hed go to outfield then they were withdrew. However, contreras never spoke mad about itnor blasted management and merely said hed do whatever it took to get back behind the plate. Contreras may have pushed back against management but he handled himself very professionally in the situation. Devers has not and just looks like hes being petty because hes mad he was pushed off 3b and now doesnt want to help management out in retaliation

[NotAFathersDay9871]

A far cry from Albert Pujols changing positions three times at the beginning of his career, one to also accommodate the addition of a Gold Glove third basemen.

[Clubmaker2]

A far cry from Albert Pujols changing positions three times at the beginning of his career, one to also accommodate the addition of a Gold Glove third basemen.

Well, there is a reason its not the same thing. Really. A second year player Pujols, who played 78 games in the cards outfield the year prior, to "move off 3B" as compared to Boston to kick its fairly recent franchise record contract core center piece player off his only position. In no season ever did AP play a majority of the seasons games at 3B, ever. AP also had the talent to move around, Devers, may not.

[kscardsfan]

A consistent 28 yr old Power hitter. Unhappy with his team. A Team that is tired of his (bleep). The Cards biggest need over the last 10 years has been a stud bat in the Outfield. Hmmmm....Before you say it think about Burly and Walker in the OF....

[An Old Friend]

I guess Devers doesn't realize The Man happily played full MLB seasons at all three OF positions as well as first base? Or that Pete Rose played 2nd, third, first, and LF?

What an A-Hole!

Ya… the Red Sox shamefully forgot to reinforce how players need to model themselves after Pete Rose.

Between the white lines, I'd want every player to play the game like Pete did...

Point is...when guys like Pete, Stan, Jackie Robinson, were asked to change positions for the good of the team, they did so without complaint because they were team first guys.

Even beyond players of past years, just look at a guy like Contreras. He was signed to be a catcher and a month into the contract the team was moving him off of catcher. Did he complain to the media? Did he throw a public hissy fit and say he wouldn’t be moving to another position? No, because he’s the kind of player you want on your team.

I seem to remember they tried to move Contreras to outfield first & he basically said no. He never played in the outfield & was back catching a few weeks later. Now granted this offseason he did do what's best for the team & agreed to switch to 1B/DH, but he did do something similar to what Devers did when asked mid season. Which could make some sense, I could see how making a switch mid season could possibly lead to injuries where given a chance to prepare in the offseason might make it more palatable to the player.

Honestly in this scenario the biggest issue to me is with the team telling a player to lose his glove. Just tell him in the offseason we're going to switch you to mainly DH & backing up 1B & 3B. That way he would know to maybe do some work on receiving balls at 1B during the offseason & when your 1B goes down it's not coming out of left field when you ask the guy to play 1B for a while. (plus he would have gotten a few spot starts when the regular 1B had a day of to acclimate to the position)

Granted it's a bad look for Devers, he would have been better off saying something like "I'll do whatever's best for the team but if the front office was considering this as a possibility it would have been nice of them to tell me during the offseason so I could actually prepare to play a position I've never played before" It would show he is a team player but also allow him to air his grievance with the way it was handled in the offseason.

That wasnt confirmed because contreras never spoke about oztfield to.media, but it could be very possible thats how it went down as there were reports hed go to outfield then they were withdrew. However, contreras never spoke mad about itnor blasted management and merely said hed do whatever it took to get back behind the plate. Contreras may have pushed back against management but he handled himself very professionally in the situation. Devers has not and just looks like hes being petty because hes mad he was pushed off 3b and now doesnt want to help management out in retaliation

If your management takes a dump on you and then asks you to make them dinner, you’re not going to be eager or happy to do it.

[Wattage]

While he didnt play it often, pujols jumped to 3b for a few games whenever the cardinals or angels asked.

Pujols played 3B in the minors. The stretch was playing him in the OF.

Devers has never played 1B at any professional level. Only played 3B in the minors.

Well devers said he is fine with playing 1b now for the giants.

Showingnit wasnt about learning a new position. It was about saying f u to red sox management and not putting the team first.

[Ozziesfan41]

He was a baby because because he’s fat too lazy to lose weight and as a result was one of the worst third basemen in the majors and they moved him from it anyway even though he cried then they needed him to play first and because he was still being a baby and angry from being moved off third he decided to be an even worse teammate and refuse and cry about it and he’s getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars. Ridiculous