„Either you make the player do it, and if you’re not going to make him do it, then you live with the circumstances. But you certainly don’t trade him for this return, under any circumstances.“
„Either you make the player do it, and if you’re not going to make him do it, then you live with the circumstances. But you certainly don’t trade him for this return, under any circumstances.“
Former MLB general manager’s take on the Rafael Devers trade: Among the many people to have a take regarding the recent Red Sox trade of Rafael Devers to the Giants, one of the more strident voices also happens to be a former MLB Executive of the Year.
Boston-born Jim Bowden, ex-general manager of the Reds and Nationals (and winner of Executive of the Year in 1999), recently spoke about the deal on “Foul Territory.”
Asked if he thought a player of Devers’s caliber could ever make him want to agree to a quick trade due to internal issues, Bowden didn’t hold back.
“Never a superstar player. Never. It can’t happen,” he said. “This is egregious.”
Bowden acknowledged that circumstances beyond pure baseball decision-making may have played a role. He cited reports about troubled meetings between management and Devers during the 2025 season.
“Look, the ego affects the progress of mankind,” Bowden said. “It always has, and ego got in the way here. And whether it’s Craig Breslow’s ego after Devers wanted to meet with Cora and John Henry and not him, or whether it’s John Henry’s ego.
