NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Rafael Devers is starting his tenure with the San Francisco Giants on the right foot, and it began with him saying all the right things at his first news conference.
Devers, putting on his new jersey for the first time since shockingly being traded by the Boston Red Sox, was introduced to Bay Area media Tuesday ahead of his first game.
Devers was in the lineup as the team’s designated hitter, and the one big question about his new MLB chapter was where the Giants planned on playing him.
Matt Chapman, a Gold Glover, is cemented at third base, Devers’ natural position.
But Devers doesn’t mind where he plays with his new squad.
“I’m here to give my 100%,” he said through an interpreter Tuesday. “I don’t put any buts. They’re the men in charge.
“I am here to play wherever they want me to play.”
This is a different tone than Devers took all season with the Red Sox, which began when they signed Alex Bregman, another Gold Glove third baseman, to presumably start the year at the hot corner.
That’s exactly what happened for Alex Cora’s team after Devers publicly said he wasn’t going to give up third base to Bregman in spring training. After conversations with Cora and the front office, he changed his tune. But it went escalated again when Triston Casas, the team’s starting first baseman, was lost for the remainder of the year.
Devers publicly revealed he wouldn’t be playing first base, preferring to remain the full-time designated hitter.
While there was a rift between Devers and the front office, he reportedly did not want to be traded. Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow spoke to the media Monday after the blockbuster deal, saying the team “had a different vision for him going forward than he had.”
“We couldn’t get there, what we felt we needed from him, that would be in the best interest of the ball club,” Breslow said.
Devers signed a 10-year deal worth $313.5 million in January 2023 to be a Red Sox cornerstone.
But the Giants, who assume all financial responsibilities for the remainder of that deal, are excited to see what Devers can bring in a loaded NL West.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
The post Rafael Devers embraces new role with Giants after shocking Red Sox trade appeared first on Fox News.
