The
MLB
trade deadline is not until July 31, but there is little chance that a move will shake the sport more than the one from Sunday night.
Slugger Rafael Devers is a member of the
San Francisco Giants
. The
Boston Red Sox
traded the three-time All-Star for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs III (outfielder) and Jose Bello (pitcher),
the teams confirmed
. The Giants will take on all of Devers’ salary, about $255 million over eight-plus seasons.
ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney revealed on “Sunday Night Baseball” reactions from around the sport, including a text he received from a New York Yankees official.
“Glad he’s gone. Yankee killer,” the anonymous executive wrote. (Olney said on the podcast a member of the Yankees texted, “Good riddance. Thank God, because this guy murders us.”
Analyst Eduardo Perez said he got a text from
Yankees
manager Aaron Boone, which was simply an emoji with bulging eyes, mouth wide open.
“(MLB execs) are absolutely stunned at how quickly this came together,” Olney said on the “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast.
Devers is batting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs this season. His
last home run as a Red Sox player
came against the Yankees on Sunday.
Even though the Red Sox have played much better lately, they are still fourth in the AL East with a 37-36 record. Now,
they’ve lost their most potent hitter
, one who has tormented the Yankees. In 119 games, Devers is 120 for 445 against New York, with a .270/.348/.533 line, 31 home runs and 78 RBIs. A Yankees —
and Gerrit Cole
— killer, indeed. Against Cole, Devers is 14 for 44 in the regular season with a .350/.435/.975 line, eight home runs and 20 RBIs. (He’s also 1 for 2 against Cole in the playoffs, with three walks and an RBI.)
Instead of facing Devers for multiple series in a season, Devers will face the Yankees for only three games every season for much of the next decade, unless New York plays San Francisco in the World Series.
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