Sam Kennedy Doesn’t Regret This Move After Rafael Devers Trade

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy doesn’t have any regret as it relates to a situation that had a trickle-down effect on Rafael Devers.

Kennedy and company were thrilled when they signed star third baseman Alex Bregman this offseason. Devers, however, wasn’t as enthusiastic given the addition of the Gold Glove winner likely meant he no longer would hold down the hot corner. Such situation reportedly started Devers’ irritation with the ballclub, and it seemingly unraveled from there before a blockbuster trade.

Kennedy, however, made it clear he doesn’t second-guess the Bregman signing.

“Look, we have a responsibility — John (Henry), Tom (Werner), Mike (Gordon), me — we have a responsibility to do everything we can to improve the club,” Kennedy told reporters during a video conference Monday night, some 24 hours after the Red Sox traded Devers to the San Francisco Giants. “We felt we were doing that by bringing Alex Bregman to the Red Sox.”

At the time, Devers publicly stated he did not want to move off third base. Others within the organization backed the eight-year veteran, as well. However, when Bregman didn’t take ground balls anywhere else during spring training it cemented the position was his. Devers eventually came around on the idea he’d serve as the designated hitter.

The Red Sox felt it was best for the group.

“We have a responsibility, ironically, to every single player in that clubhouse to do everything in our power to improve the club,” Kennedy said. “So it was something that we were committed to doing, and do not regret that for one minute.”

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, on the other hand, shouldered responsibility when reflecting on the situation. Breslow isn’t certain it would have played out any differently, but ultimately agreed more communication between player and team could have been beneficial.

“That’s one of the questions that I ask myself every day,” Breslow told reporters, as seen on NESN. “There is no blueprint for how to navigate this. It does seem easy at this point, given where we are today, to say we mishandled that. I think that would be a totally fair criticism. … In a similar situation next time, my hope is that I, or we, are able to manage that in a way that it never reaches this point.”

Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox and has opt-outs after the 2025 and 2026 campaigns. It’s fair to think the organization will do everything in its power to retain the 31-year-old, especially now that Devers is gone.