SAN FRANCISCO — Since taking over the Red Sox dugout in 2018, Alex Cora has managed no player for more games than Rafael Devers. Friday, then, represented an awkward date on the calendar as Boston prepared to face Devers as an opponent less than a week after trading him to the Giants.
Cora, who was first introduced Devers during the slugger’s first full big league season in 2018, did not get a chance to see Devers before the series opener between the clubs Friday. He said he was hoping to. There was no need, though, in Cora’s mind, to clear the air after a messy divorce that led to the Red Sox dealing Devers in the second season of a record-setting 10-year contract.
“Clear the air? It’s a trade. It’s baseball. It’s a business,” said Cora. “It’s not the first guy to get traded. It’s not the last guy that’s gonna get traded. People have their opinions about the whole thing: communication, first base, DH third base, the manager, the GMs, the owner. It’s a baseball trade.
“From my end, I turned the page. I’ve got 26 guys in that locker room who are ready to go. We’re in a good spot, playoff-wise. It’s still early in the season, but the boys are doing an outstanding job staying in the moment but we’ve got a big series here. Our goal is to win it.”
Cora, sources say, grew tired of Devers and the drama surrounding him at the end of Devers’ time in Boston, which was marred by a public feud with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow over changing positions. Cora was in the room when principal owner John Henry met with Devers during an impromptu meeting in Kansas City on May 9. By the time Breslow pulled the trigger on the Devers deal over the weekend, sources say, Cora was in total agreement that it was time to move on — and believed Devers wanted out, too.
On Friday, though, Cora made it clear that he wanted to decouple the developments of the last few months from a relationship with Devers that dates back to when the three-time All-Star was 21.
“Nothing in this business is personal,” Cora said. “That’s something that, throughout the years, I always tell them. We agree on a lot of stuff. We disagree on others. Just like everybody else. Xander Bogaerts is in San Diego. It’s not personal. Mookie Betts is in L.A. and it’s not personal. Raffy Devers is with the Giants and it’s not personal.”
Devers, whose temporary San Francisco home is the same luxury hotel where the Red Sox are staying this weekend, got a chance to hang out with some of his friends on the team Thursday, when the Giants played a day game against Cleveland and the Red Sox were off. On Friday, he greeted Ceddanne Rafaela, Lucas Giolito and others on the field before the game. He said he hoped to do the same with Cora but declined to describe his relationship with the manager.
“I don’t want to talk about the past. I don’t have anything good or bad to say about Alex,” said Devers. “I just want to leave everything in the past.
“I will say hi to him. We’re friends. I don’t have anything against him. We’re friends.”
Cora said he was not surprised to see Devers’ willingness to learn first base with the Giants after refusing to do so in Boston. Asked about how Devers is as a teammate and clubhouse presence, Cora gave a short answer.
“Raffy was always ready to play at 7:00,” Cora said. “He was always ready, ready to hit, ready to play defense whenever he played defense. I appreciate that.”
Cora recognized the contributions Devers made to the Red Sox in 1,053 games over nine seasons. It was clear Friday, though, that he was ready to move on.
“It’s awkward. This happened five days ago,” Cora said. “The guy, what he did since 2017 when he got called up, all the way to the last game against New York, he produced. You look at the list of homers in the franchise, 500 extra-base hits, the World Series ring, there’s a lot of stuff Raffy did for us and we’re very proud of him. To face him here, it’s going to be different.
“This is a weekend we have to get him out. We’re prepared for that and he’s prepared, obviously, to do the opposite.”
