Former Red Sox MVP Shares Thoughts On Rafael Devers Departure
Former Boston Red Sox second baseman and 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia shared his thoughts on the Rafael Devers situation with the Red Sox that unfolded in 2025 and contributed to Devers ultimately being traded to the San Francisco Giants.
In discussing Devers on a new episode of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, Pedroia shared an interesting anecdote about his own career. Pedroia recalled that a couple years after he signed a massive extension with the Red Sox and helped them win a World Series in 2013, Boston went out and signed second baseman Yoán Moncada, a move that threatened to rub Pedroia the wrong way.
“I look at it as a player … we win the World Series, I signed an eight-year extension for $110 million, and then we go spend $51 million on a second baseman,” Pedroia said. “I wasn’t worried about it because I had a full no-trade clause … but I did care. … I’m doing all I can here … let’s go spend $51 million somewhere else.”
Pedroia compared that situation to Devers seeing the Red Sox go out and sign Alex Bregman, despite Devers having already signed a long-term deal with Boston and been a part of a World Series win.
Ultimately, Pedroia came to the conclusion that situations like the one Devers experienced early in the 2025 season are commonplace in MLB, and not even the biggest stars are immune to these scenarios.
“And I guarantee you Raffy had the same reaction we we signed Alex (Bregman),” Pedroia continued. “That’s human nature, that’s human reaction, that’s life, (and) that’s baseball, unfortunately. If I had to deal with it after 2013, they’re all gonna deal with it.”
While the Moncada signing by the Sox in 2015 was different than the Bregman signing in 2024 (Moncada was an unproven prospect at the time, whereas Bregman was a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champ), Pedroia’s main point was about the emotions that come with the situation.
Pedroia was essentially empathizing with the notion of Devers getting upset over the Bregman signing. But Pedroia did also make a distinction about his own handling of the Moncada situation, saying that he essentially joked about it with Moncada and kept things professional at all times.
Pedroia played his entire career with the Red Sox. He ended up winning two World Series in Boston and collecting four Gold Gloves and four All-Star nods to go along with his pair of title rings and MVP trophy.