When the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman for third base in the offseason, Devers moved to designated hitter. And when first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in May, Devers was asked to play first, a switch that would better fit the roster construction. His response? Not interested.

The least-complicated way would be for Rafael Devers to come to the conclusion that $313.5 million brought the Red Sox the right to tell him to move to first base.

On the field at least, the Red Sox did not seem like a team impacted at all by the Rafael Devers melodrama over the last two days. They picked up their biggest series win of 2025 in Kansas City.