One year ago, the San Francisco Giants thought they had finally bought their way out of a long-standing lineup issue.
After whiffing over the years on Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, the Giants finally landed the kind of superstar bat they had been chasing for years.
Rafael Devers arrived from Boston with a $313.5 million contract, a World Series ring, and the expectation that he would become the middle-of-the-order force San Francisco had lacked for years.
Twelve months later, the deal looks less like a franchise-altering coup and more like a warning label.
To refresh: the Giants acquired Devers from the Red Sox for left-hander Kyle Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks, outfielder James Tibbs III and right-hander Jose Bello.
At the time, San Francisco was 41-31 and tied for first place in the National League West. Devers was supposed to be the final piece. Instead, the Giants lost 10 of their next 14 games, stumbled to a 40-50 finish after his arrival, missed the playoffs. So far this season they are 29-43.
Since Devers’ debut, the Giants are 69-93.
That is not all on Devers, but it is impossible to separate the trade from the collapse.
Devers has played 162 games as a Giant, hitting .235 with a .762 OPS. His strikeout rate has ballooned, his walk rate has cratered, and his production has not come close to matching the weight of the contract San Francisco absorbed.
The Giants did not trade for a good hitter. They traded for a lineup-changing star. So far, they have gotten something much closer to expensive adequacy.
The ripple effects have been just as damaging.
Devers’ presence clogged the first base/designated hitter picture, complicating Bryce Eldridge’s path to regular major-league at-bats.
It also helped convince the front office it did not need another major bat last offseason. That bet has aged poorly. The Giants now have an expensive roster, a muddled offensive identity and no easy path to a quick reset.
One year later, this is the rare blockbuster that both teams can regret for different reasons.
Boston traded Harrison to Milwaukee and he has subsequently blossomed into an All-Star-caliber starter for the Brewers. Tibbs is thriving in the Dodgers minor league system after being a part of the trade that sent Dustin May to New England. Tibbs is beginning to look like the exact power-hitting outfielder both San Francisco and Boston could use.
The Red Sox moved Devers to clear a strained relationship and shed long-term money, but they never replaced his bat. Their plan to re-sign Alex Bregman fell apart, Roman Anthony has not yet become the stabilizing force they envisioned, and only have Bello to show for the blockbuster trade. He remains a long-shot potential contributor.
Further more, chief baseball officer, Craig Breslow is now under pressure with Boston only slightly better off in the standings that San Francisco.
So, somehow, the trade has managed to make both teams look worse.
For the Giants, though, the pain is deeper. They are still carrying Devers’ contract well into the 2030s, still waiting for him to become the superstar they thought they acquired, and still watching a move designed to launch a contender instead mark the beginning of a spiral.
When Buster Posey made the trade, it looked bold.
One year later, it looks like the nightmare version of ambition.
