Rafael Devers on SF Giants trade: “I’m here to play wherever they want”

Rafael Devers indicated in his introductory press conference with the Giants that he is willing to play any position the team asks him to take on.

Where he’ll play at Oracle Park is up to manager Bob Melvin and president of baseball operations Buster Posey.

“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said Tuesday via Giants translator Erwin Higueros. “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”

That openness to play across the diamond is a departure from his stance in Boston, where his defensive position became a point of contention between Devers and the Red Sox this season, ultimately culminating in Sunday’s trade to San Francisco.

“That’s in the past,” Devers said. “I’m moving forward.”

Melvin said Devers would be the Giants’ designated hitter in the No. 3 spot in Tuesday night’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. He said Devers would practice at first base before the team considers playing him there.

“I’ll play wherever you want me to play, I’ll hit wherever you want me to hit,” Melvin recalled Devers saying in their first in-person meeting after the trade.

Devers, 28, signed a massive 10-year, $313.5 million extension with the Red Sox in January 2023, locking him in as Boston’s cornerstone player who remained from the 2018 World Series-winning team.

But tensions between player and team rose over the offseason when the Red Sox signed third baseman Alex Bregman, a 2024 Gold Glove winner, shortly before spring training and asked Devers to move to designated hitter. Devers has been a below-average defender throughout his career, which includes three seasons of 20-plus errors.

Devers said he felt that his position had been unceremoniously taken away from him, but eventually he agreed to be the team’s designated hitter this season.

Then in early May, Boston first baseman Triston Casas ruptured his patellar tendon, ending his season. The Red Sox asked Devers to play first, further inflaming his frustration about his position. He declined to take on first base, but continued as a designated hitter, including a home run against the Yankees Sunday afternoon in a sweep-clinching win.

Hours later, he was traded to the Giants for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks along with prospect James Tibbs III and rookie-ball pitcher Jose Bello.

“This is a new organization. I’m happy to be here,” Devers said of his new tune about potentially playing first base.