11 More Years of Devers?

The January 2nd Winter Classic crowd at Fenway Park booed Baseball Red Sox owner, John Henry, for losing out on extending shortstop Xander Bogaert and for not yet extending All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers. Well, Boston sports fans can now rest easy as Devers, and the Red Sox are finalizing an 11-year, $331 million contract extension. The news broke Wednesday, January 4th, eliciting celebrations across fan media.

This contract is not only the largest for any third baseman ever but also the largest and longest in Red Sox history. Since joining the franchise in 2017, Devers has had consistently great performances, making him well worth the ticket into the $300+ club.

Devers has amazing credentials at-bat with a career average of .281/.342/.512. His record season in 2019 saw a .916 OPS with an AB of 647. In 2021, Devers was ninth in the league for Home Runs at 38, contributing to his MLB total of 139 in just six seasons with the Red Sox. For the past four seasons, he has remained above league average in BA, SLG, and OPS. Thanks to the movie Moneyball, fans know just how impactful it is for players to get on base, something the All-Star excels at doing.

Devers has well earned his contract with not only his batting but also fielding statistics. But as the face of the new era Red Sox, fans will be banking on his leadership abilities to hopefully usher the team to a very long-awaited victory.