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Sweeping the Yankees was only the second biggest piece of Boston Red Sox news this weekend. In a stunner, the Red Sox have traded star slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a rare mid-June blockbuster. Devers is the third homegrown Red Sox star to find himself in the NL West, joining Mookie Betts (Dodgers) and Xander Bogaerts (Padres).

Here is the full trade:

Rafael Devers traded to Giants: Red Sox superstar headed to San Francisco in stunning MLB blockbuster
Dayn Perry
Rafael Devers traded to Giants: Red Sox superstar headed to San Francisco in stunning MLB blockbuster

It is unclear how the Giants intend to use Devers (DH? third base while Matt Chapman is injured?), but that doesn't really matter right now. They got him for his bat and because they've had a hard time landing star hitters in free agency. The Red Sox clear a positional logjam, free up future payroll, and also potentially create more clubhouse harmony.

Here are the winners and losers in the immediate aftermath of the Devers trade.

Winner: Giants

We needn't overthink this. The team that gets the star almost always win the trade, and the Giants just acquired one of the best hitters in the sport. Devers hit his 15th home run of the season Sunday -- San Francisco's left-handed hitters have 14 homers this year -- and is slashing .272/.401/.504 overall. The Giants add that to an offense than entered play Sunday ranked 14th in runs per game and 21st in home runs. Devers will greatly boost an offense that is too often stuck in the mud, especially with Chapman on the shelf with a hand injury.

Loser: Red Sox fans

Another homegrown star is gone. Betts was traded, Bogaerts left as a free agent, and now Devers has been traded away after a messy (but avoidable) situation in which he and the team bickered over his position. Vibes are great in Boston right now. The Red Sox just swept the Yankees and have won eight of their last 10 games. Now another beloved star player is gone. Devers was the guy who signed the long-term extension to stay, to be the guy the Red Sox build around, and now he's been traded too. The BoSox are not a small market team and yet their fans have had to watch a lot of beloved players walk out the door.

Winner: Rafael Devers

You'd never know it from his play on the field, but the positional bickering with the Red Sox (third base to DH, DH to first base, etc.) seemed to reach a point of no return. He made it no secret he wasn't happy with the way things were handled, and the Red Sox were not pleased behind the scenes.

PerRed Sox sources: the team's feeling was that a $313.5M contract comes with responsibilities to do what is right for the team and that Devers did not live up to those responsibilities. They had enough and they traded him.

— Peter Abraham (@peteabeglobe.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM

Now Devers gets a fresh start with a good team that is in the race. I'm sure this is a shock to him. I'm sure he expected to finish his career in Boston after signing his 10-year deal. But he now gets a clean slate with a team that is eager to have him and will welcome him with open arms. Any awkwardness and animosity that was weighing on him is in the rear-view mirror. 

Loser: Also Rafael Devers

There's a reason the Giants have had trouble landing star hitters: Oracle Park is a tough place to hit. Devers was tailor-made for Fenway Park. He could bang the ball for extra bases to all fields. That won't happen in San Francisco. Oracle Park is cavernous and all those fly balls to left field that went for doubles off the Green Monster will now be caught. Devers got paid already, so he doesn't have to worry about a slip in offense hurting his wallet. Still, his numbers figure to dip a bit, particularly his slugging ability.

Winner: The Red Sox in the future

The Giants are taking on the entirety of Devers' contract. He entered this season with nine years and $266.5 million remaining on his deal, and that's an awful lot of money to get off the books. Especially since Devers will clog up the DH spot. The Red Sox are loaded with young talent: Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, etc. They now have more money to spend to build around them in the future, and more roster flexibility as well.

Loser: The Red Sox right now

Even with their recent hot streak, the Red Sox are not currently in a postseason spot, and they just traded their best and most clutch hitter. For all intents and purposes, they robbed the 2025 Red Sox to pay the 2026-33 Red Sox. They made this year's team weaker so they could be stronger in the future. As talented as they are, you needn't try hard to see yourself looking up in a few weeks and thinking the Red Sox are short on game-changing power. Devers has it and they traded it away.

Winner: Gerrit Cole and the Yankees

The Yankees are probably wondering why the Red Sox couldn't make this trade a week ago. Couldn't trade him before he hit a home run Sunday? Devers has 31 homers in 119 career games against the Yankees, including 18 in 64 games at Yankee Stadium. He's specifically owned Cole, who's currently injured: .350/.435/.975 with eight homers in 46 plate appearances. For the AL East-leading Yankees, Sunday was a good day despite the loss. One of the biggest thorns in their side was traded as far away as possible baseball-wise.

Loser: Other National League contenders

The Giants entered Sunday only one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West. They're 1 ½ games ahead of the Padres. Life just got a little harder for the Dodgers and Padres in the division, and also for a whole bunch of teams in the wild-card race. This trade affects the Brewers,  Cardinals, Mets, Phillies, Reds, etc. The road to a postseason berth just got a little tougher in the NL.