Red Sox couldnt land top Giants prospect in trade package for Rafael Devers

The Red Sox shot for the moon in their Rafael Devers trade negotiations with the Giants. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reported that Boston brass had “insisted upon 20-year-old first base prospect Bryce Eldridge” in trade talks around Devers, “but the Giants refused to consider including him in the deal.”The Red Sox instead settled for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs III and Jose Bello in exchange for the three-time All-Star. Eldridge, the Giants’ top prospect and the No.19 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, is hitting .251/.323/.474 with 10 homers during stints in Double-A and Triple-A this season.Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said Devers won’t stand in the way of Eldridge’s development“We see his development path as the same,” Posey said of the young slugger, per The Athletic.

“He’s going to keep (playing) first, keep developing at the plate.It’s a conversation Raffy and I have had already about Bryce and the future that we potentially see him having.”After refusing to play first base for the Red Sox amid a clash with the front office during his last weeks in Boston, Devers changed his attitude on where he’s willing to play in the field for San Francisco. “They’re the men in charge,” Devers said of the Giants’ front office and coaching staff on Tuesday.

“I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”Devers hit in the third spot of the Giants’ lineup as the designated hitter, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.Giants manager Bob Melvin said he plans to play Devers at a “little bit of DH and a little bit of first” going forward. Devers declined to speak on the controversial ending to his nine-year tenure in Boston during his introductory press conference, saying: “I’m moving forward from the situation in Boston and looking forward to being a San Francisco Giant.”...