Milliken: How did the Red Sox end up in this spot with Rafael Devers…

• Whenever the question about a potential positional change for Devers came up, Breslow made it clear that those talks would happen internally before anything else. “Any conversation that we would have about [a position change] is going to happen internally before it goes external. At the same time, we saw progress [from Devers] on the defensive side, and it’s unclear to what extent the knees and the shoulders impacted his ability to defend at third [down the stretch]. But what we’re after is putting a winning team on the field. And we’ll have conversations as needed, as things go, but as of right now, that’s not where we are.”

  From Devers’ standpoint, I don’t think it’s hard to see why he’s upset about the Red Sox dropping a positional change on him. He was never spoken to about moving off of third base all offseason, despite his bosses saying they’d talk things over with him if something changed. Instead, he heard exactly what the fans were told, which was that Devers was the third baseman and Bregman could win a Gold Glove at second.

  As we know, the Red Sox weren’t seriously in on any of the DH/OF options like Teoscar Hernandez and Tyler O’Neill. In Jen McCaffrey’s story about how the Bregman deal went down, it was noted that after the Red Sox missed out on Juan Soto, they turned their focus to Bregman. Even Sean McAdam had written in November that Arenado was essentially a “Plan B” for the Red Sox, which was obviously the case as they waited out the Bregman sweepstakes over the last two months.

  During that entire period, the Red Sox had the opportunity to at least approach the topic with Devers. That would’ve ensured they kept their word from earlier in the offseason, while also showing a level of respect towards Devers, who was reportedly promised he’d be the third baseman of the team for “several” years after signing his extension. Yet the organization dropped the bomb on him this past Friday after Bregman had already been signed and he had been in Fort Myers since the middle of January. 

• While many didn’t take Devers’ agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, too seriously over the course of the offseason, he made it clear that his client expected to be at third base. Whenever rumors started to fly about Bregman or Arenado, Devers’ camp sent their message both locally and nationally. You even had, which pointed to him feeling disrespected by those saying he should be a DH moving forward. Beyond the poor communication, this is an example of just not reading or understanding your players correctly, which is a dangerous game to play with someone who just signed an 11-year, $331 MM extension.

  If the front office felt it was that important to upgrade the infield defense, that should’ve been communicated at the start of the offseason. Strictly from a baseball perspective, Devers wouldn’t have much of an argument, but they chose to muddy the waters with their comments about his improved performance in 2024 and Bregman playing second base. Devers himself admitted that he thought he made strides last season, which only matches what the organization said about him.

  I was shocked when the Red Sox applauded Devers’ defense at the time. While he didn’t fall into his typical error funks for once, he registered a rough -6 Outs Above Average and -9 Defensive Runs Saved. So, why not be upfront when the data in front of you justifies the conversation you need to have with your best player? If you were that committed to Devers only swinging a bat moving forward, the best course of action would’ve been to let him process it away from everything. Even after coming up short on that front, they could’ve slow played the conversation early in camp to make up for the lack of communication in the first place. Nobody is a bigger Kristian Campbell fan than me, but why ruffle any feathers until he proves to be a real candidate for the Opening Day roster?

• Make it appear as if Campbell was battling for a spot in left field. In that scenario, Jarren Duran could move to center field where he posted elite defensive numbers in 2024 and Ceddanne Rafaela works in a super-utility role. If Campbell decided to show out and Rafaela was deserving of an everyday role in center field, then the convo changes during camp and there’s direct proof of why that’s happening.

  It wasn’t only Devers that was put in a tough spot with how the Red Sox framed things either. They made it pretty hard to envision where Masataka Yoshida would slot into things. That’s a major reason why I was cautious to pencil in Devers at DH and Bregman at 3B because if you hope for Yoshida to rebuild any of his value, that’s not happening with a lot of time on the bench. This was a way to put your best offensive lineup out there, keep everyone happy, and still improve your defense from where it was a year ago.

  Does the poor communication from the Red Sox justify Devers completely shutting down the idea of being a DH or first baseman? No, not one bit. In a perfect world, you’d hope his sole focus was on the Red Sox being the best version of themselves, but he said himself that he feels like a victim of bad business. This is where Cora will have a chance to earn his money as a player’s manager, but it’s going to take some real work after contradicting himself the last few months.

  The Red Sox can claim that Campbell forced them to reconsider their defensive alignment, but he hasn’t done anything to dramatically change their evaluation since the offseason started. If you felt this strongly about him playing against the Rangers on March 27th, why not approach things with that outlook all offseason? Talking out of both sides of your mouth did you no favors in this scenario and has now created an uncomfortable position for a team looking to solidify themselves as contenders in the American League.

  Over the next 5 weeks, there’s going to be a focus on Red Sox spring training that hasn’t existed in a long time. Every defensive rep that Bregman and Devers takes is going to be questioned or noted. Same goes for Campbell, who will be in the midst of his first big league spring training. Even when it comes to the media, players are going to be asked about it constantly, which is where you risk guys stepping in it and starting fires (Yes, I’m talking about Triston Casas). That attention is a product of how the Red Sox handled things over the course of the offseason and into camp, which they can only blame themselves for.

  At the end of the day, it’s Cora’s job to fill out the lineup. If he wants Devers at DH, that will be a pill he’s forced to swallow. It just feels like there was a simpler way to handle this situation that didn’t make Devers feel blindsided and defensive. The last thing the Red Sox need with their image on the upswing again is a public dispute with their longest-tenured player, who is right at the center of what should be a lengthy competitive window for the organization.