MLB Rumors: Red Sox Tried To Acquire This Prospect In Rafael Devers Deal

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the organization wouldn’t have traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants if it didn’t receive the four-player package it did.

So while Breslow and company ultimately signed off on the return, it reportedly wasn’t the one the Red Sox initially had in mind. Boston, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic and The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, initially tried to acquired San Francisco’s top prospect.

“The Red Sox, per sources, began negotiations by asking for top prospect Bryce Eldridge,” Pavlovic wrote in a story published Tuesday night. “The Giants considered him 100 percent off-limits, and eventually the conversation turned to players like Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, (Kyle) Harrison and 2024 first-rounder James Tibbs. The front office eventually parted with two of them, but the Red Sox initially pushed for a larger group.”

Baggarly echoed the report.

The Red Sox instead landed left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and right-handed prospect Jose Bello.

Eldridge is viewed as San Francisco’s top prospect and the No. 19 prospect in baseball, per MLB.com. His ranking, however, is behind Boston’s Roman Anthony (No. 1) and Marcelo Mayer (No. 8), among others, who already have been called up to the big leagues.

A first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, the 20-year-old first baseman represents the club’s only top 100 prospect.

While the Red Sox weren’t able to pry Eldridge, they did acquire Tibbs, who was the 13th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Tibbs was ranked as San Francisco’s No. 4 prospect at the time of the trade.