Rafael Devers doesn’t mince words on Red Sox roster: ‘Everybody knows what we need’

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Rafael Devers sat down on the interview bench outside the Boston Red Sox clubhouse at JetBlue Park on Tuesday for his first official media session of the season. It’s something he’s done each of the last several years as a key player on the club.

But this time, there was a decidedly different tone.

The third baseman spoke for nearly 20 minutes, roughly half of the time discussing the overall direction of the franchise more candidly than he ever has before. Devers has learned English over the years and understands the questions asked, but in interviews he often uses team interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benítez to relay his answers because he doesn’t want to be misunderstood.

When asked if he was disappointed the team didn’t spend more this winter after ownership suggested they would earlier in the offseason, Devers took a big sigh, then didn’t hold back.

“I know what we needed last year, I know what we need this year,” he said through Villoria-Benetíz. “A lot of teams need a lot of players and additions. I can’t control what they do. I just control what I do, just to go out there each day to give my 100 percent and give the best version of myself and try to help my team win.”

It appeared as if that was the end of the answer, an even-keeled response like he normally offers. But then Devers interjected to add more after Villoria-Benetíz finished the translation, as if realizing now is the time to speak up.

“But they (Red Sox’s ownership) need to make an adjustment to help us players to be in a better position to win,” he said. “Everybody in this organization wants to win and we as players want to win and I think they need to make an adjustment to help us win.”

For a second time, after Villoria-Benetíz finished relaying Devers’ words, the third baseman added more.

“I’m not saying the team is not OK right now, but they need to be conscious of what our weaknesses are and what we need right now.”

When asked to elaborate on what he thinks the team needs, he continued, toeing the line a bit, but far more pointed than he’s ever been.

“Everybody knows what we need,” Devers said. “You know what we need. They know what we need. It’s just some things that I can’t say out loud, but everybody who knows the organization or knows the game knows what we need.”

Critiquing the direction of the team is not the norm for Devers, and the fact that he spoke up was another example of how frustrated players are internally with how the club has operated of late. Devers is entering his eighth season in the league, but the first year of a 10-year, $313.5 million deal he signed last January. He’s likely going to be in Boston for the remainder of his career.

Devers spoke to the media on Tuesday. (Maddie Malhotra / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images)

Typically, the jovial 27-year-old avoids confrontation or speaking out publicly in such a direct manner, but it was clear this was on his mind and he felt the need to address it.

Devers said he spoke to ownership about his concerns and said they told him they’re trying to improve the weaknesses of the club. Whether that’s true remains to be seen. Much of the focus the last several years has been on building up a young core, which most would agree is essential to the club’s long-term success. But it also doesn’t need to come at the expense of the current team, something Devers clearly feels has been the case.

“I think they’re thinking more in the future,” Devers said. “Last year when we had an opportunity to do something (at the trade deadline) and be in the race, nothing happened. I felt like then they were thinking in the future and when those opportunities come along, we need to be more aggressive and try to embrace those opportunities.

“It’s just at the end of the year when you go home early when you know you had a chance to be in the race or competing to make a playoff run and they don’t give you a push and the help you needed, that the team needed at the time, of course, it’s going to sting,” he added. “But it’s not something I can control.”

With the trade of Chris Sale over the winter, Devers is now the only player left on the roster from the 2018 World Series team. Even more telling, Devers is just one of seven players left from the 2021 team, the last Red Sox squad to post a winning record and the last to reach the postseason.

Trading Sale for Vaughn Grissom and Alex Verdugo for reliever Greg Weissert and two pitching prospects was a continuation of the Red Sox’s trend of prioritizing the club’s future goals over the present.

“I can’t tell you right now if the trades are going to work or not,” Devers said. “At the end of day that’s (the front office’s) decision and how they view the organization right now and I’m not able to say if it’s going to work or not. What I can do is help the young kids that came here to become better players and help them to adapt and be successful.”

There are well-known players who’ve had success on this Red Sox team from Trevor Story to Kenley Jansen to newcomer Lucas Giolito to young players like Triston Casas. But Devers is widely considered the only star player on the team.

He’s long avoided taking on a leadership role for the club with the likes of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner previously carrying that load. But those players are gone and it’s clear, even if Devers isn’t fully comfortable speaking out, he’s forced himself to take on more of that task.

“I don’t think that’s something that I really like, the title,” he said of being a clubhouse leader. “But it’s something that I need to embrace because I’m one of the veterans in the clubhouse. And I know that I can help, with my little experience, help the young guys to become better baseball players. That’s something, if they need me, I’ll be there for them.”

Manager Alex Cora has watched Devers evolve over the last eight years and become a bigger voice on the team. Cora’s daily meeting with the media was delayed because Devers spoke for so long. The manager was nearby, listening to Devers’ pointed remarks.

“I like the fact he sat here and he talked and he was open about it,” Cora said. “He’s not a kid anymore.

“(He’s) growing to be more comfortable with who he is, what he means to the organization and what he wants,” Cora added, noting Devers has increasingly been more vocal in the clubhouse, in meetings and in what he needs and wants from the team.

Cora, whose own contract is up at the end of the season, made a point to say that it’s important Devers feels like he can talk to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.

“I always tell him the door is always open,” Cora said. “But sometimes I have to go look for him because he feels sometimes he doesn’t want to cross that line. For me, it’s the other way around. Actually, the most important relationship here is with Craig. It’s his first year and Devers is supposed to be here for a while. The better that communication is, the better that relationship is, it’s going to benefit everyone in the organization.”

Devers didn’t mince his words on Tuesday and the more he leans into that side of himself, the better for the Red Sox.

“I care deeply about this organization,” Devers said. “I love this organization so much that I want us to win, I want us to win right now, I want us to win in the future and that’s something on my mind.”

(Top photo of Devers in the batting cage: Maddie Malhotra / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images)