Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers said he’s not willing to play first base after a season-ending injury to Triston Casas.
Devers was approached by Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow about moving over to first base, but the 28-year-old doesn’t have any interest, especially after the team moved him from third to DH and told him to “put away my glove.”
“I know I’m a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers said through a translator, according to the Boston Globe. “In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH.
“So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.”
Even approaching the idea seemed to have bothered Devers to the point where he’s upset.
And Devers essentially questioned if Breslow had an issue with him because of the idea of moving him to first base.
“I’m not certain what [issue] he has with me,” Devers told reporters. “He played ball, and I would like to think that he knows that changing positions like that isn’t easy.”
The Red Sox are in a bit of a bind after losing Casas for the season due to a knee injury he suffered last Friday.
The Red Sox and Devers have had an interesting relationship recently, with the team moving him to DH in the spring.
Devers, at the time, was not initially happy with it before warming up to the move.
He told reporters that he had a “great” relationship with the guys in the clubhouse, but indicated that it wasn’t the case with everyone in the organization.
“I don’t understand some of the decisions that the GM makes. Next thing you know, someone in the outfield gets hurt and they want me to play in the outfield,” Devers said Thursday.
According to MassLive, Devers had some more thoughts about what the team needed to do with its first base dilemma.
“Now I think they should do their job essentially and hit the market and look for another player [to play first base]. I’m not sure why they want me to be in between the way they have me now,” he said.
Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million deal with the Red Sox in 2023.
He’s hit .255/.379/.455 with six home runs for Boston this season.
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