Red Sox Make Major Roster Move After Trading Rafael Devers to Giants
Red Sox Make Major Roster Move After Trading Rafael Devers to Giants originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Boston Red Sox have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past week—winning five straight games, seven of their last eight, and capping it off with a sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday.
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Now sitting above .500 for the first time in over a month, the team made a stunning move by trading three-time All-Star and longest-tenured Red Sox, Rafael Devers, to the San Francisco Giants. In return, Boston received pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison, along with minor league prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello.
Roughly an hour after MLB insiders broke the news, the Red Sox and Giants made the deal official. Shortly after, Boston made a somewhat surprising roster decision by optioning Harrison—who had made eight appearances and four starts for the Giants this season—to Triple-A Worcester.
They also designated left-handed pitcher Zach Penrod for assignment. Penrod has made seven appearances for the Red Sox this season, posting a 2.25 ERA across 4.0 innings pitched.
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After Sunday's victory, Boston is now 37-36 overall and sits fourth in the AL East. However, they remain just 6.5 games out of first place in the division and only half a game out of an AL Wild Card spot. That makes the decision to trade Devers all the more surprising, given he's been one of their best bats this season.
Former Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers (11)Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Fans quickly reacted to the Red Sox's roster moves following the unpopular decision to trade Rafael Devers.
"This may be the worst trade of all time," a fan said.
Another fan posted, "This might actually be worse than the Mookie trade & I didn't think that was possible."
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Someone else added, "Entire front office needs to be fired tomorrow."
One more fan commented, "So you [explicit] optioned the only asset you got back."
Related: Red Sox's Final Rafael Devers Post Goes Viral After Shocking Trade to Giants
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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Boston Globe
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A look at other recent Red Sox trades involving franchise players, and if they have relevance to dealing Rafael Devers
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Doug Mientkiewicz (left) celebrated with teammates when the Red Sox ended their World Series championship drought in 2004. Bohn, John Globe Staff Relevance to Devers trade: Certainly, there are similarities in the sense that a career-long Red Sox icon saw his relationship with the organization turn. But the trade was structured around the immediate contributions of 2004, rather than around long-term value. The Sox dealt 8½ years of Devers for several years of control of Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs, and Jose Bello. Related : Advertisement July 31, 2008: Red Sox trade Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers as part of a three-team deal that nets outfielder Jason Bay. 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Manny Ramirez was in the final season of a landmark eight-year, $160 million deal with the Red Sox when he was traded to the Dodgers in 2008. Davis, Jim Globe Staff Aug. 25, 2012: Red Sox trade Adrián González, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers for a five-player package led by pitching prospects Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster. The Red Sox organization was on edge throughout the 2012 season, the product of a late-season collapse in 2011, the departures of Francona and Theo Epstein, offseason revelations of clubhouse dysfunction, the hiring of Bobby Valentine as a manager, and spring training accusations of player backstabbing. 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