Dustin Pedroia gives his take on how Rafael Devers, Red Sox handled drama before trade

"For me, I would love to see Raffy finish his career as a Red Sox and have that smile on his face and hit 30 home runs for 20 years."

Dustin Pedroia is upset that Rafael Devers' career shifted to San Francisco. Jim Davis/The Boston Globe

November 19, 2025

4 minutes to read

Dustin Pedroia spent his entire 14-year MLB career playing for the Red Sox.

In a perfect world, according to Pedroia, Rafael Devers would have followed a similar trajectory, peppering the Green Monster and launching pitches into the bullpen for years to come in Boston.

Now, Devers will be golfing offerings into McCovey Cove as a member of the Giants for the remaining eight years of his contract.

“Raffy is a great kid, man. He is. And he’s a great player,” Pedroia told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “This dude can hit, and he’s always going to hit. He’s going to have a, shoot, unbelievable career. In San Francisco, he’s going to be great.”

Devers’s time in Boston came to an abrupt halt this past season, with the Red Sox ultimately opting to trade Devers and his entire contract to San Francisco in June amid months of drama between the All-Star slugger and Boston’s management staff.

It was a tumultuous stretch for the Red Sox, with Devers less than pleased with the Red Sox’ decision to sign veteran third baseman Alex Bregman in February.

Devers was candid about his frustrations with the team signing an established player at the same position that he played, with Devers eventually pushed to DH at the start of the 2025 season.

“Third base is my position,” Devers told reporters in Fort Myers. “It’s what I’ve played. I don’t know what their plans are. I know we had a conversation. I made it clear, kind of what my desires were and whatever happens from here, I don’t know.”

After first baseman Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury in May, Devers stressed that he would not move from DH to first base — unloading on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and Boston’s top brass.

“They had the conversation with me,” Devers said through translator Daveson Perez. “I don’t think for me personally it’s the best decision after they asked me to play a different position and I only have two months of playing this position. To all of a sudden have me try to play another position … from my end, it doesn’t seem like a good decision.”

“Yeah. I don’t think they stay true to their word,” Devers said. “They told me I was going to be playing this position, DH. And now they are going back on that. So yeah, I don’t think they stay true to their word.”

The Red Sox eventually opted to trade Devers to the Giants just a month later.

For Pedroia, Devers’ frustrations with the team adding a potential replacement in the prime of his career resonated with him.

Speaking to Bradford, Pedroia recalled that the Red Sox shelled out a hefty amount of money to sign international free agent (and second baseman) Yoan Moncada just a few years after Pedroia helped Boston win a World Series in 2013.

At the time, Pedroia was confused as to why Boston prioritized adding another second baseman in the midst of his own prime years.

“I signed an eight-year extension for $110 million and then we go spend $[31.5] million on a second baseman. And I’m like, ‘dang,’ you know what I mean,” Pedroia said. “And thinking in my head, I’m like, ‘okay.’ I wasn’t worried about it because I had a full no-trade clause and could care less.

“But I did care. You know what I mean? Like, you care as a player. I’m like, I’m doing all I can here to help us win games. And instead of spending $[31.5] million on a second baseman, let’s go spend $[31.5] million somewhere else.”

Moncada was ultimately traded as one of the headlining pieces in a blockbuster deal involving Chris Sale in December 2016. But, Pedroia acknowledged that the business of baseball can sting a player’s ego when it comes to how he’s valued.

For the first time since the Rafael Devers trade, Dustin Pedroia weighs in on how he viewed the whole situation on @BBisntBoring. pic.twitter.com/H1LX2AgONC
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) November 19, 2025

Pedroia believes a similar scenario played out this February when Boston added Bregman to a roster already featuring a slugging third baseman in Devers, even though his defensive metrics left a lot to be desired.

“As a player, you’re thinking in your mind like, man, I thought I was their guy. I thought they loved me like I love them,” Pedroia said. “But that’s an emotional reaction right away. And I’m guarantee you, Raffy had the same reaction when we signed Alex.

“I’ve been here, I won a World Series. I’ve hit 30 home runs and this and this and this, and then all of a sudden we go spend $40 million on a third baseman.’ That’s a human reaction, that’s human nature. That’s life, that’s baseball, unfortunately.”

While Pedroia later shrugged off Moncada’s arrival in Boston’s pipeline, the former AL MVP acknowledged that every player processes things differently. In Devers’ case, getting moving across the infield might have been too much for the All-Star slugger — eventually leading to a split from the Red Sox.

“Raffy was probably upset about that, and I can see that. That’s human nature.” Pedroia said. “So does that make me think anything differently of him? No. It’s just that everybody reacts differently to different circumstances.

“And is it unfortunate? Yeah. For me, I would love to see Raffy finish his career as a Red Sox and have that smile on his face and hit 30 home runs for 20 years, which he’s probably going to do. But sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.”