The Chicago Cubs have made a few big splashes this offseason, but depending on your expectations for Dansby Swanson, there is still a feeling of disappointment that a bigger move was not done and well at this point it doesn’t look like they’ll be doing in the winter. Fans wanted a legit bat to add to the lineup and even now there is a potential target via a trade. Of course, it takes two to tango and there’s no guarantee the Boston Red Sox are willing to deal him now or in six months, but if you look at the Cubs roster and the prospects they have, Rafael Devers is such a perfect fit for them .
Devers, 26, is projected to earn about $18.7 million in the final year of arbitration with the Red Sox in 2023, and it seems like almost every story coming out of Boston this offseason is how the team is not even close to working out a contract extension for the third baseman.
In 2017, Devers made his MLB with the Red Sox, playing in 58 games during his rookie season. He showed immediate signs of being able to handle big-league pitching, posting an .819 OPS in 240 plate appearances as a 20-year-old. He did have a sophomore slump in 2018, only putting up a 90 wRC+ in 121 games. That was the last time Devers ended a season being a below average hitter.
From 2019-22, Devers has a slash line of .292/.352/.532, with a 132 wRC+. In 2022, the left-handed slugger hit 27 home runs, slashed .295/.358/.521, had a career best 141 wRC+ and posted a 4.9 fWAR in 141 games.
He’s made two All-Star teams in 2021 and 2022, won a Silver Slugger award in 2021, oh and in his first full season in the big leagues he hit .294 in 11 postseason games, helping the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series. Devers has accomplished so much already and is primed for a monster contract. Now, it’s a matter of who he’ll get it from.
Last week, CBS Sports discussed Devers’ future, asking a group of writers to answer where Devers will begin the 2023 season, where he finishes the season and where Devers will play in 2024. One writer, Matt Snyder, thinks Devers will eventually end up with the Cubs during the middle of the 2023 season and then sign an extension and stay on the north side of Chicago.
Via CBS Sports.
Matt Snyder: I’ll go with starting the season with the Red Sox, finishing the season with the Cubs and starting 2024 with the Cubs.
My thought process is that the Red Sox are reportedly “galaxies” away from retaining the services of Devers in an extension and it seems possible at this point he’s just ready to move on after seeing what happened with Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts (and several others , to a lesser extent). I’m going to assume the Red Sox are not contenders in July of this season and that the Cubs are fighting for second place — barely above .500 or even just at .500 — with the Brewers behind the Cardinals in a lackluster NL Central. Devers’ prime fits with the Cubs’ window and a middle-order lefty who plays third base is a perfect fit. They should have the prospect package by then to pull off a deal for Devers. All that’s left is being aggressive enough with an extension offer to get a deal done before free agency, as they don’t have much money tied up in future contracts other than Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki.
The Red Sox are in a weird spot because the American League East has the New York Yankees obviously being a threat, with the Tampa Bay Rays always finding a way to win, the Toronto Blue Jays trying to win now and the Baltimore Orioles are on the rise after a surprising 2022 season. Boston has a collection of OK players surrounding Devers, but there are several question marks on the pitching staff. Not exactly at the top of any list to be World Series contenders in 2023 or in the next few years.
Plus, like I’ve mentioned and Snyder did as well, the Red Sox are reportedly nowhere near getting a deal done with Devers. Boston’s recent history of trading Mookie Betts and letting Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency doesn’t bode well for their chances with Devers either.
On the Cubs side, it all comes down to how aggressive Jed Hoyer wants to be. If the Red Sox are in a position where they start to take calls on Devers, then the Cubs must be engaged with them and try to do anything they can to trade for Devers. I’m sorry, but if it takes Pete Crow-Armstrong, you gotta do it and then immediately sign Devers to an extension.
The Cubs cannot allow another team to come in and take Devers. It’s happened too many times in the past five years and with only a handful of big contracts (really only one with Swanson) on the books, there’s no excuse not to be ultra aggressive if the Red Sox do eventually look to trade their star third baseman .