Pedro Martinez disagreed with David Ortiz over Red Sox handling of Rafael Devers trade

"We went from being one of the most popular teams in the last 25 years to probably being one of the most hated teams in all of baseball, and I don't want to see that."

Pedro Martinez hugs Rafael Devers during spring training in 2024. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

June 18, 2025

5 minutes to read

Pedro Martinez sounded off on the Rafael Devers trade: The reaction to the Red Sox surprising decision to trade Rafael Devers continues to send shockwaves around baseball, even among Boston legends.

Pedro Martinez, now an MLB analyst, spoke about the Red Sox-Giants deal on Tuesday in multiple segments. Initially, he acknowledged being caught off-guard, but was also quick to defend Devers from critics.

“I was shocked, just like everybody else,” said Martinez. “I was shocked, because if you try to sell to me—knowing Rafael Devers—that Raffy is a bad teammate, or he’s not a team player, you’re lying. You’re going to tell me he’s a bad influence in the clubhouse? He’s not. Does he want to play every single day? Yes, that’s probably why he was mad.”

The root of the problem came down to multiple requests from the Red Sox to switch Devers’ position amid the signing of Alex Bregman and the in-season injury of first baseman Triston Casas.

“The thing got mishandled from the get-go,” Martinez explained of the fallout between Devers and the team, noting that he thinks it would’ve been better had experienced players been in the discussion.

“This should’ve been handled by baseball people, not front office people, not leaking it to the media, not having a back-and-forth between the media, and Alex [Cora], and Sam Kennedy, and [Craig] Breslow.”

Referencing the team’s recent press conference after the trade, which was conducted by Kennedy (the team’s president) and Breslow (the chief baseball officer), the ex-Red Sox ace reiterated that former Boston players could have helped communicate with Devers.

“We’re always around. We’re always available. [Dustin] Pedroia’s available, [Jason Varitek] is working with the team there, someone he can really trust. The thing is I don’t think they were individually asked to go to Devers to do those things,” Martinez added, “and the press conference that they held the other day didn’t help it at all because you hear the front office—Sam Kennedy, Breslow, and all those guys—talking about the situation. They talked about championships and stuff like that, but it’s not just the championships. It’s not what we have done, it’s understanding the human inside the uniform. That’s what nobody probably understands about Devers. How was he feeling when you were telling him dump your glove? Was he offended? Was he feeling funny about not being treated like somebody that could be worth a position in the infield. I think there was a lot of miscommunication, but it should’ve been handled by baseball people.”

Granted, Breslow is a former Major League player himself. But Martinez seemed to be hinting at a lack of empathy when he referenced “the human inside the uniform.”

“People that have been there, that understand what it’s like to wear the uniform and at the same time be a human. I don’t think they did the best job at doing that.”

.@45PedroMartinez gives his thoughts on the Devers trade 👀 pic.twitter.com/lfhBV6R4O6
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 18, 2025

In a second interview (this time with “Talkin’ Baseball“), Martinez admitted that he fears the ramifications of the team’s mishandling of its former star.

“Everybody is looking around to see what’s going on with Boston, and we went from probably being the most I would say lovable team in the last 20 years to probably one of the teams that everybody’s going to be looking at in the future and saying, ‘If they treated Devers [or] Chris Sale that way, if they disrespected Jon Lester that way, free agents are going to be looking at Boston in a different way,'” he said.

“That’s what I’m concerned [about], that the culture that we left—Pedroia, [Ortiz], Manny [Ramirez], [Varitek], all of those great players that went through the organization, is going to disappear,” Martinez noted, “and people are going to start looking at Boston as a bad organization. An organization that doesn’t respect the players. And that I would hate to see, because we went from being one of the most popular teams in the last 25 years to probably being one of the most hated teams in all of baseball, and I don’t want to see that.”

The 2004 World Series winner also didn’t shy away from some criticism of his friend a former teammate, David Ortiz.

Asked about Ortiz’s comments regarding Devers—that “he almost never returned my messages”—Martinez again seemed to side with Devers.

“Big Papi also made a mistake in spring training by speaking in front of the cameras about some of the things that he needed to tell Devers,” said Martinez. “And just like I said before, that should’ve been handled in-house. Big Papi should’ve gone out with Devers to talk about those things, not really openly speaking in the field, because the cameras are able to pick up everything that we say.”

“That was the first mistake from Big Papi. The other thing is I don’t like to hear those comments after things happen like that,” Martinez continued. “I would’ve loved for Big Papi to come over, grab Devers, go to a restaurant, go to his house, throw a barbecue, and talk to Devers in his house.”

Martinez noted that private communication would’ve been his approach to communicating with the 28-year-old slugger, “but I was never asked.”

When Breslow’s post-trade comments were brought up—that he thinks the team will look back on the trade “and we’ve won more games than we would’ve otherwise”—Martinez laughed when asked if he agreed.

“No I don’t,” he replied. “In baseball, there’s always one thing that’s going to keep you humble. If you don’t show me the numbers that say the team is going to be better without Devers and the new guys that [the Red Sox] are getting in the trade, then I don’t have a reason to believe that.”

The three-time Cy Young Award winner was sympathetic to Breslow with respect to his inexperience. He noted that Breslow possesses intelligence and will improve, but “he should’ve never answered that question.”

Trivia: When Pedro Martinez left the Red Sox for the Mets in free agency after the 2004 season, Boston received a compensatory draft pick. Who did they select with that pick?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: Also a pitcher, he went on to become a two-time All-Star, throwing a no-hitter at Fenway Park in his second career Major League start.

Scores and schedules:

The Red Sox lost to the Mariners 8-0 on Tuesday. The two teams play again in Seattle this evening at 4:10 pm.

Also on Tuesday, Brad Marchand won the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career, helping the Florida Panthers to a second straight championship after the 5-1 win in the clinching Game 6 against the Oilers.

More from Boston.com:

Marchand’s moment: The former Bruins celebrated winning the Stanley Cup, having scored six goals in six games.

Former New England star: Former Revolution winger Tajon Buchanan scored a pair of goals in Canada’s 6-0 Gold Cup win over Honduras.

Tajon Buchanan makes it 3-0 Canada! 🇨🇦🔥 pic.twitter.com/OfeSrbdke2
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 18, 2025

On this day: In 1975, Fred Lynn belted three home runs and a triple (finishing the game with five hits) resulting in 10 RBIs in a 15-1 Red Sox rout of the Tigers.