Rafael Devers' refusal to play first base and his public complaints about chief baseball officer Craig Breslow apparently didn't sit well with some of his Boston Red Sox teammates.
After Thursday's 5-0 win over the Texas Rangers, Devers called out Breslow and the Red Sox front office for asking him to replace the injured Triston Casas at first base. The three-time All-Star third baseman took issue with the club wanting him to switch positions after he already reluctantly moved to designated hitter before the 2025 season.
According to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com, who was among the reporters in the clubhouse for Devers' comments, some Red Sox players were unhappy with how Devers handled the situation.
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SIGN UP HERE "One reporter told me, though, that one of them said to 'just stop talking,'" Smith said during an appearance on Foul Territory. "We also at MassLive learned that a couple veteran players, players that have been around the league a long time, were not happy with the situation with (Devers') inflexibility and also the way that he brought it out publicly. ...
"As I said, I didn't hear that player directly. That's what I was told. A couple reporters were talking about it. But yeah, we've also heard at MassLive there was players that weren't happy about it."
The Devers drama comes at a less-than-ideal time for a Red Sox club still looking to find its groove. Boston is a mediocre 20-19 on the season despite playing one of the league's easiest schedules thus far. Luckily, the rest of the American League East has been just as unimpressive, so the Red Sox are only two games behind the first-place New York Yankees.
With Devers unwilling to play first base, the search for a Casas replacement will continue. The Red Sox still could move one of their current players to first base or call up one of their top prospects to learn the position on the fly. However, it appears more likely they will look outside the organization for positional depth.
For now, Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez will split time as the Red Sox' first basemen. Toro will get the nod for Friday's series opener against the red-hot Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
