Former Red Sox executive calls Rafael Devers trade 'organizational malpractice'

Among the litany of reactions to Rafael Devers being traded to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, perhaps none spoke louder than that of former Boston Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott.

"We don’t yet have all the info, but this is a sad ending for Red Sox fans," Scott wrote on Twitter/X. "The entire saga feels like organizational malpractice."

Devers is a three-time All-Star in his prime. The Red Sox's return, as reported by Robert Murray of FanSided: pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, and minor leaguers Jose Bello and James Tibbs.

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None of the four is a star, though Harrison is a former Top 100 prospect who can immediate go into Boston's starting rotation. Harrison was scratched from his Sunday start in Los Angeles, minutes before the Giants were set to take on the archrival Dodgers.

But it's an underwhelming return for a player whom the Red Sox chose to keep ahead of two other homegrown starts — Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts — each of whom got the contract they always wanted in the National League West.

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Scott spent nearly 17 years in the Red Sox's front office, ending in December 2020 — months after Betts was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and led them to a World Series title.

You don't have to be a former GM to recognize a coup when you see one. First-year president of baseball operations Buster Posey recognized a mutual need to acquire one of the best hitters in the American League.

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While their 353 runs scored ranked fifth in MLB, the Red Sox's 3.96 ERA ranked 18th, suggesting they had some offense to spare in order to improve their pitching staff. The Giants have scored 305 runs (15th) this season, while their pitchers had a collective 3.24 ERA (third).

The two teams matched up well for a trade on paper, but few could have imagined trading Devers being the answer for both clubs.

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The 28-year-old said in May that he was upset about being asked to move to first base, two months after moving from third base to DH to accommodate free agent signee Alex Bregman. His harsh comments toward president of baseball operations Craig Breslow prompted a face-to-face meeting with Breslow and Red Sox owner John Henry.

One month later, the spat is water under the bridge — the Golden Gate, that is.

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