KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Boston Red Sox owner John Henry met with disgruntled star Rafael Devers on Friday afternoon, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road after Devers expressed disillusionment with the organization’s suggestion that he switch positions for the second time in two months.
Joined by Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and president Sam Kennedy, Henry flew to Kansas City on Friday to address the firestorm after Devers objected to moving from designated hitter to first base following Triston Casas’ season-ending knee injury.
Devers, who signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract with Boston in January 2023, told reporters Thursday that he would not move to first base and criticized Breslow, saying: “I don’t understand some of the decisions that the GM makes.”
During spring training, Devers said he did not want to move off third base — the position he played in his first eight major league seasons — after the free agent signing of reigning American League Gold Glove winner Alex Bregman. Eventually, Devers agreed to become Boston’s designated hitter, where he has played in each of the team’s 40 games this season.
Devers met with Henry and manager Alex Cora before Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals and had what Breslow deemed “an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox.”
The Red Sox have been using Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro, both utility men, to plug the hole at first base amid a 20-19 start.
“He expressed his feelings. John did the same thing,” Cora said. “I think the most important thing here is we’re trying to accomplish something big here. And obviously there’s changes on the roster, situations that happened, and you have to adjust.”
Devers, who went 1-for-5 with an RBI groundout Friday, declined to comment when asked about the meeting with Henry.
Breslow had introduced the possibility of moving to first base to the 28-year-old Devers, a three-time All-Star who, after a poor start, is hitting .253/.374/.447 with 6 home runs, 26 RBIs and an American League-leading 29 walks.
Devers did not take kindly to the idea, saying Thursday: “They told me that I was going to be playing this position, DH, and now they’re going back on that. So I just don’t think they stayed true to their word.”
The pointedness of Devers’ comments prompted Henry, who declined to comment, to fly halfway across the country and attempt to put to bed issues that have festered since spring training.
The signing of Bregman, who has been the Red Sox’s best player, accelerated moving Devers off third base, which evaluators long thought was an inevitability, even with his improvements at the position. First base had been viewed as his likeliest landing spot, but the presence of Casas pushed Devers to designated hitter, a move he initially rebuffed before eventually complying.
Devers’ disappointment during the spring, sources said, stemmed from feeling blindsided by the lack of communication regarding the initial position switch.
“It’s my job to always put the priorities of the organization first,” Breslow said, “but I should also be evaluating every interaction I have with players, and I’ll continue to do that.”
Whether Devers eventually accepts moving to first — which could free up a lineup spot for Roman Anthony, the top prospect in baseball, or incumbent DH Masataka Yoshida after he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery — is a “secondary” issue at the moment, Breslow said.
“That decision was never going to be made on a couch in an office in Kansas City,” he said, “and that conversation is ongoing. The most important thing here is we believe that we’ve got a really good team that’s capable of winning a bunch of games and playing meaningful games down the stretch. That’s what we need to remain focused on.”
Added Cora: “The plan is to keep having conversations.”
