Rafael Devers Trade Reportedly Discussed With Cubs, More Before Red Sox, Giants Deal

Before Rafael Devers was traded to the San Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox spoke with several other teams to gauge their interest in the three-time All-Star.

Per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, Red Sox officials had talks with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves before ultimately agreeing to San Francisco's offer.

The Red Sox pulled off a stunning move on Sunday that sent Devers to San Francisco for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks James Tibbs III and Jose Bello.

Even though it was known Devers and the Red Sox had some issues due to his refusal to play first base after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury and poor communication to him from the organization, no one was really expecting a divorce to happen as quickly as it did.

One Red Sox staffer told Yahoo Sports' Joon Lee the situation between Devers and the club was an "absolute s--tshow."

During ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast after the trade went down, Buster Olney said the Red Sox were talking to other teams interested in Devers.

Talks were prevalent enough that the Red Sox at least tried to negotiate for a better package from San Francisco, but the Giants drew a line at how much they were willing to send out.

Per The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, the Giants refused to include top prospect Bryce Eldridge and it took "nearly four weeks" of negotiations with the Red Sox before a trade package was agreed on.

It's not a surprise the other teams Boston contacted about a trade are all big-market clubs that have shown at least some willingness to spend money. Devers is still owed approximately $250 million over the final eight years of his contract.

Given how active the Giants have been in trying to add an impact middle-of-the-order in free agency without a lot of success, their willingness to absorb Devers' contract and build an acceptable trade offer for the Red Sox isn't a surprise.

Devers is hitting .272/.401/.498 with 15 homers in 347 plate appearances this season. He entered 2025 on a streak of four consecutive years with at least a .350 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.