How the Rafael Devers trade prepared the Red Sox for the trade deadline

New York Times

3 days ago

MINNEAPOLIS – Six weeks ago, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow traded the face of the franchise and longest tenured player on the team in Rafael Devers, hours after the club had completed a sweep of the Yankees. The fallout from that stunning move seems to have taught the executive a lesson in more open communication, and the players a lesson in steeling themselves to navigate the potential tumult of the upcoming trade deadline.
Advertisement
'I think when Rafael Devers gets traded,' Rob Refsnyder said, 'all of us are on high alert.'
None more so, perhaps, than Jarren Duran, whose name has swirled in trade rumors for weeks. Duran sat on a couch in the visitors clubhouse at Target Field on Tuesday and watched as the MLB Network aired a segment about whether he'd be traded from the only big league team he's ever known. Before going 2-for-4 with a home run in an 8-5 win over the Twins, Duran spent much of the afternoon with his headphones on.
There's still uncertainty about what the Boston Red Sox will – or won't – do before Thursday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, but the players are prepared for anything thanks, in part, to the Devers deal.
'Having something like that happen a few weeks ago helps you prepare even more,' Refsnyder added. 'This is the most prepared the team has been, in my opinion, going into the deadline of knowing some of those moves might be made.'
Though the Devers deal came as a shock, Refsnyder noted Breslow has been more open and around since the deal was made.
'I think Craig has done an excellent job of communicating with us, and if established guys have questions, he answers,' Refsnyder said. 'I think his communication and his honesty has been really good and if we don't add, I don't think it's for a lack of effort by him.'
The day after the Devers deal, Breslow acknowledged regret in how he handled communication, noting it 'forced (him) to reflect on the interactions' he had with Devers and other players and look for 'opportunities to communicate differently.'
'I need to own things that I could have done better,' he said at the time.
Reliever Garrett Whitlock, now the longest tenured active player on the team, agreed that the season's first major trade put the days leading up to the deadline in perspective for many players.
Advertisement
'After Raffy, we kind of talked and were like, 'Hey, it's not our job to add or take away or anything like that. Our job is to go out and play,'' Whitlock said. 'I think the whole team kind of rallied around that and just said, 'You know what? We're not going to focus on anything external. We're going to focus on the nine innings we got on hand and go from there.''
Since the Devers deal, the Red Sox have gone 21-15 and remained in second place in the American League wild card. They've gone from two games over .500 to seven games over .500. And while there have been missed opportunities to gain even more ground in a wide open AL playoff picture, they've kept themselves squarely in the hunt, particularly in a 4-5 stretch after the All-Star break in which they faced the top teams in each National League division.
'We've been playing better baseball,' Refsnyder said. 'We just played against some really, really good teams and we had some missed opportunities, obviously, but we just beat the Dodgers in a series. I think it'd be a little worrisome going into this week if we just got swept or had a really, really bad streak.'
Now, they're hoping Breslow adds to the team.
But adding players will naturally mean the makeup of the team will be shifted again. Trading Duran could be another shock to a close-knit clubhouse, something Breslow is keenly aware of. If the Red Sox trade for a first baseman, Abraham Toro's role might be erased. If they add a reliever, someone in the bullpen will be moved.
Starter Richard Fitts was already optioned to Triple A after Monday's start, highlighting the turnover in the rotation even as the club seeks a No. 2 starter.
It creates natural uncertainty, even for veteran players.
Starter Walker Buehler, now in his eighth big league season, wants to improve the club at the deadline, but knows adding another starter might jeopardize his spot. Buehler has posted a 5.72 ERA in 18 starts this season, but is by far the club's most experienced postseason starter.
Advertisement
'For me personally, I want to try to figure it out and become that guy for us,' je said. 'I've obviously done that a lot in the past, so we'll see.'
With under 48 hours until the deadline, the one certainty is that the Red Sox will feel some sense of relief come Thursday night.
'I think the closer the deadline gets, it's easy to kind of play GM and be cooking up trades in your mind or whatever,' Trevor Story said. 'For me, you got to keep the main thing, the main thing. A lot of other stuff is just distraction. Bres does a great job of identifying guys, and obviously that's his job, so we'll let him do it.'
(Top photo of Jarren Duran: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)