Red Sox brass flew to Kansas City to tame the Rafael Devers situation on Friday.
Reports indicate that owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow joined the team during an away game amidst rising tensions between the star third baseman and the front office.
Recently, Devers, who was moved from third base to designated hitter unwillingly due to the signing of Alex Bregman, expressed he wasn’t prepared to switch to first base after the Red Sox’s Triston Casas sustained a season-ending injury.
“I understand I’m a ballplayer, but I can’t be expected to cover every position on the field,” Devers stated through a translator, as reported by the Boston Globe. “During spring training, they informed me that I should forget about using my glove, as I would solely be playing as a DH.”
“So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.”
Devers appears to be clashing with Breslow, specifically, after questioning if he had a problem with him when talking to reporters earlier this week.
“I’m not certain what [issue] he has with me,” Devers. “He played ball, and I would like to think that he knows that changing positions like that isn’t easy.”
Breslow told MassLive’s Chris Cotillo that Henry and Red Sox manager Alex Cora spoke privately with Devers on Friday.
“We felt like it was important, based on the situation that unfolded yesterday, to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox,” Breslow said. “That being great teammates for each other.”
Devers’ teammates reportedly aren’t thrilled with the three-time All-Star’s actions of late.
His postgame tirade on Thursday elicited “not positive” reactions from teammates in the clubhouse at the time, according to Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald.
