It was hard not to think at least a tiny bit about Rafael Devers on Wednesday when the Boston Red Sox extended Roman Anthony.
Anthony’s eight-year, $130 million extension was the biggest contract the Red Sox have given a homegrown player since Devers’ $313.5 million deal before the 2023 season. But the two were teammates for less than a week, as Devers was traded to the San Francisco Giants on Jun. 15, six days after Anthony’s major-league debut.
Obviously, the situations are somewhat unrelated, as the two players were at very different stages of their careers when they signed the extension. But when Craig Breslow invoked Devers’ name on Wednesday, he made it clear that he sees a difference between the two of them.
The Red Sox have consistently portrayed the Devers trade as a move made for the team’s culture, as the 28-year-old had refused the organization’s request to move positions and become a constant distraction. But it’s hard not to imagine that moving on from the money left on his contract didn’t open the door to Anthony’s extension.
However, when Breslow was asked Wednesday if the money saved on Devers ($254.5 million) helped facilitate Anthony’s extension, Breslow pushed back, while also bluntly stating why the organization feels things will work out better with Anthony.
“We felt like what was best for the organization at the time was to trade Raffy,” Breslow said, per Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. “And today we thought that what was best for the organization is to come to an agreement to keep Roman in a Red Sox uniform for a really long time.”
Devers was a three-time All-Star third baseman and a 2018 World Series champion in Boston. He ranks 10th all-time with 215 home runs in a Red Sox uniform, and he probably could have gotten into the top seven if he stayed in Boston just for the rest of the season.
But the Red Sox believe handing out a big contract comes with more responsibilities than just showing up and crushing baseballs. And they believe unlike Devers, Anthony is ready to live up to those expectations they’re setting.
Only time will tell if they’re right, but given that Boston and San Francisco have gone in opposite directions since the trade, the Red Sox have to be feeling smart about the decisions they’ve made.
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