Can the Blue Jays capitalize on Red Sox-Rafael Devers drama?

There's no denying that Rafael Devers is one of the best hitters in baseball. He's put up 25.2 fWAR for the Boston Red Sox since 2019, which is the 14th best mark in baseball.

It also seems like he could be available for the right price.

When Devers signed an 11-year, $331 million contract extension in January 2023, it became even more clear that the Red Sox valued him more than Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, both of were traded away prior to Devers signing his extension.

But things aren't going great for Devers in Boston right now.

The problems started in spring training when the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to play third base, which is Devers' position. The team asked Devers to move to designted hitter, which he accepted after throwing a fit.

He started the season poorly (it took him six games and 20 at-bats to get his first hit), but he's rebounded to slash .319/.429/.558 with seven home runs and 44 hits in the time since.

Now, with first baseman Tristan Casas out for the season, Boston asked Devers to play first base, which he's never played in MLB.

Devers refused, leading to a division among fans and speculation about his future. Some fans are on the organizations side and think that Devers should go wherever the team needs him, while others feel that it would be unfair to ask him to move from DH, especially when he wasn't great in the field at third (-4.8 defensive fWAR since 2019).

Whatever side of the argument you land on, one thing is clear – this relationship is beginning to sour, and it looks like there could be a couple of ways the Toronto Blue Jays swoop in and take advantage of the predicament their division rivals find themselves in.

Can the Blue Jays capitalize on Red Sox-Rafael Devers drama?

Option 1: Trade for Devers

The first option is the Blue Jays trying to persuade the Red Sox to deal Devers to Toronto.

While it sounds like a pipe dream, we’ve seen instances in the past where a team's ownership becomes fed up with a player and wants them off their hands. It happened recently when the Colorado Rockies sent Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021 two years after Arenado signed a seven-year extension worth $234 million.

Devers has no opt-outs, and his extension did not include a no-trade clause, making it a relatively easy contract to move once you get past the money and length.

Toronto’s front office has been opening its pocketbooks as of late and begging for someone to take their money in free agency. They got turned down by Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto before inking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a mega contract – but stated at that time that the Guerrero deal doesn’t handcuff them from taking on more salary.

From a monetary standpoint, Toronto should have room for the Devers deal.

Toronto also has a hole at third base. While Ernie Clement looks to be breaking out of a season-long slump, Devers' consistency and ability to do damage is almost unmatched.

He managed to hit .272/.354/.516 with 28 home runs in 138 games lat year while working through shoulder injuries, and he’s appeared in all 42 of the Red Sox games this season.

The only thing that could potentially hold Toronto back from this deal with Devers' defense. Toronto’s front office has been obsessed with a run prevention since the end of the 2022 season, and giving so much money to such a poor defender would be a jarring switch.