By Brian Murphy
Monday, June 15 marks the one-year anniversary of Buster’s Blockbuster — the revolutionary trade with the Red Sox for slugger Rafael Devers.
It was bold.
It was audacious.
It was the right thing to do.
So why does the one-year anniversary report card say the trade has been a big, fat failure?
Damn. No grade inflation here.
You can probably comb through the JBA — Jock Blog Archives, a favorite place for archaeologists of crap — and find any number of passages defending, supporting and cheering the trade. Here were my reasons:
— The perpetually .500 Giants needed to shake up the status quo, and add a big bat.
— Cavernous Oracle Park meant no free agent bats would ever sign here, as I was just saying to my good friend Arson Judge.
— The price seemed amazingly affordable, even knowing that Kyle Harrison could one day develop into a good big-league arm. Jordan Hicks seemed addition by subtraction, and as far as the prospect James Tibbs, well, we’d cross that bridge when we came to it. (More on that later.)
After all, you were getting Rafael Devers in return! At just 28 years old! In his prime!
The Jock Blog crunched all the numbers. No player in his 20s — save for Juan Soto — could match the career stats compiled by Devers. In career OPS+, for you propeller heads, the only players Devers’ age or younger who matched him were Soto, Fernando Tatis, Jr and Vlad Guerrero, Jr.
The trade was a complete and total win.
Until it wasn’t.
David Letterman used to have an old bit in the 1980s called “Museum of the Hard to Believe”, in which the wryly sardonic gap-toothed late-night host would present ludicrous scenarios and punctuate them with a Letterman-esque “… hard to believe, ladies and gentlemen.” For example, a bit called “the Tenth Justice” revealed that the nine Supreme Court justices admitted they’d never reached a decision without consulting the ghost of Elvis Presley. Cue Letterman: “the 10th justice … hard to believe, ladies and gentlemen.”
If only Dave was still on the air. We could tune into NBC at 12:30 am to hear Letterman say: “After solving the power bat problem at Oracle Park by trading for Rafael Devers, Buster Posey’s Giants are *twenty-five games under .500* … a whopping 67-92 …
“Hard to believe, ladies and gentlemen.”
Entering the Wednesday matinee against the Nationals, Devers had played 158 games as a Giant. He is batting .235 in orange and black.
In nine years as a Red Sox, he hit .279.
In 158 games as a Giant, Devers has an OPS of .759.
In nine years as a Red Sox, his OPS was .859.
His current strikeout rate of 30.7% is easily the highest of his career.
Every category across the board: down, down, down. In many cases, dramatically so.
Meanwhile, you know about Harrison’s emergence as one of the top young arms as a Milwaukee Brewer. And you probably know that Tibbs is one of the Dodgers’ top AAA prospects.
Ladies and gentlemen . . . hard to believe.
So what anniversary present do you get for the marriage gone bad? There are no cards that say “Sorry I Married You” or “Man, This Didn’t Work Out.” This is like one of those Hollywood weddings that goes sour quickly. Devers and the Giants — the Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman of MLB trades.
This is not to pile on with cheap shots. Like I said, I was all in. Maybe that means I’m a bad general manager. I know, I know. Save your one-liners.
Why has this happened? Why the fall-off? Is it physical conditioning? Is the park in his head? Has he not felt comfortable since the trade? Teammates and insiders say his attitude is good, he is well-liked, and all he wants to do is play ball.
It’s all just . . . hard to believe.
What now?
The Giants are on the hook for $28.5 million every year through 2034, when Devers is 37. Oof. As if you need another kick in the groin, they owe him $7.5 million in deferred money every year from 2036 to 2043. I know $7.5 million in 2040 will probably be the equivalent of a minimum salary, but still. Everywhere you look, it’s a frowny face emoji.
So . . . happy anniversary, Rafael Devers Trade!
I guess.
—30—
