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Who’s on third? A timeline of the Rafael Devers back-and-forth with the Red Sox and Alex Cora

So Rafael Devers intends to stay at third base. Alex Cora and the Red Sox sound like they want him to change positions. And others feel entitled to weight in. Welcome to Spring Training 2025, where the new - and improved? - Red Sox are still adapting to the changes. And so, in the interest of clarity, we have decided here to paste a brief timeline of the events that have led to the tussle currently taking place between the Red Sox and Devers, the left-handed-hitting third baseman and offensive centerpiece around whom the Boston batting order is built. Devers showed up in camp earlier this week and said he has no intentions of changing positions to accommodate newcomer Alex Bregman, the right-handed-hitting third baseman whom the Red Sox signed to a three-year, $1240 million contract to, in part, improve their infield defense. So where will Bregman play? Well, he's been getting work at third base. Depending on the play of prospect Kristian Campbell during the spring, he could end up at second. The Red Sox certainly seem to have designs on moving Devers to the designated hitter position, though it should be stated clearly that Cora and the Red Sox have made no definitive announcements about who would play where. In the meantime, the question lingers: who's on third? Let's start with these question-and-answer to and from Devers. But before we get to it, let's just note that Devers typically speaks through an interpreter, which is obviously fine. That said, he understands and speaks some English. As you'll see on the first two questions here, he sometimes answers without waiting for a translation because he understands exactly what is being asked: https://youtu.be/XUJ2DzkUbNU Before we go any further, let's just pause here to point out something. At about the 20-second mark, Devers looks to his interpreter to clarify because he doesn't understand some of the vocabulary. The translator makes reference the decision made the equipo, the Spanish word for team. When giving his answer, Devers points to himself and seems to clearly say mi decision, which is, of course, my decision. So why are we pointing this out? Because the interpreter never actually says the words my decision. We can all theorize as to why, but the reporter (Chris Cotillo of Mass Live) asks Devers pretty clearly: "Isn't it their decision though? Isn't it the Red Sox' decision? Or is it a mutual thing?" An answer like "It's my decision" comes off as more combative and defiant, so the guess is that the interpreter softened it some in hopes of diminishing any controversy. Obviously, that didn't work. Now, onto the follow-ups, which leads to an amusing back-and-forth: https://youtu.be/rCkAdkOfbMc Devers makes his stance on the matter pretty clear here. What if they insist? No. DH? No. First base? No. Just third base? Yeah. No interpreter needed. Nothing lost or omitted in translation. Third base is my position. When Alex Cora spoke with the media shortly thereafter, he was advised of Devers' defiance. Cora initially said he hadn't heard or seen the actual comments, but acknowledged that had been relayed to him. In so doing, Cora pointed out that Devers sat on the same bench a year ago and complained about the failure of ownership and management to build a competitive team, a return of service that put the ball back in Devers' court. Wait a minute, Raffy. A year ago, you said the team didn't do enough to win. Now we've added players and you won't sacrifice. Which one is it? Tough to argue with Cora and the Red Sox here. Winning is the goal. Here's the actual sequence: https://youtu.be/4Jw32KJVvPo Before we go any further, we should probably remind you of exactly what Devers said last spring - so we've pasted it, too. At the time, some members of the Spanish-speaking media said that Devers' message was similarly softened by the translator. Nonetheless, the message comes through. This is a longer chunk of video with a sequence of answers, but the gist is clear. Devers believed the team didn't do enough to win at either the 2023 trading deadline or during the offseason. https://youtu.be/L_QfTAfogj4 One more thing worth noting from Cora, who, to his credit, who often lets his true feelings come through in varying degrees of bluntness. After Devers told reporters that his annual physical pegged his weight at 240 pounds, the message was relayed to Cora. The manager was then asked about Devers' conditioning and, while noting that Devers' offseason program limited him from doing his normal routine, suggested Devers was out of shape. Cora then made it clear that Devers can still hit - the elite skill that earned him a 10-year, $313.5 million contract that began last season - but the team has long had concerns about Devers' conditioning. As such, moving him off third base has long been inevitable. https://youtu.be/NIJfT2sX-eo Had this all been the last of the verbal tennis, we would all be waiting for the matter ro play out on the field, where the Sox have already begun conducting workouts. (Cora said the team expects Devers to be cleared for throwing early next week.) But yesterday in Fort Myers, Triston Casas made the mistake of further igniting the controversy when he put his support behind Devers over newcomer Bregman. Why Casas felt the need to get involved at all is entirely different matter, but suffice it to say that Casas has never been afraid to share his thoughts on anything, no matter how young of inexperienced he is. (Casas, apparently has yet to be introduced to the three most important words in any language: I ... don't ... know.) https://youtu.be/pYLC3O0qPDs Through it all, the one person who has thus far handled the matter most tactfully is Bregman, whose answer was textbook: "I’ll play wherever it helps the team win," he said. Of course, Bregman's focus and intensity is one of the primary reasons the Red Sox brought him here given a recent six-year stretch in which the Sox have met expectations only once (in 2021) and gone an uninspiring 437-433. So what happens from here? Good question. Cora has mentioned "competition" on more than one occasion, but the guess is that the Sox want rocketing prospect Kristian Campbell to show he's ready to handle second base in Boston, which would put Bregman at third. Devers would seemingly have no option but to suggest what he deems a demotion, though he will remain the biggest - and most expensive bat in the middle of the Boston lineup. But as anyone who has ever followed the Red Sox will tell you, it's never quite that simple or easy.

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