Last year, the San Francisco Giants pulled off an unlikely move, trading Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III, and Jose Bello. However, Devers’ current .235 batting is proving too costly for the Giants as they still owe $199 million to the 29-year-old through 2033.

The Giants are thus reportedly willing to give up on Devers by the deadline. And if that happens, the Red Sox could have a chance to correct themselves.

“One year after acquiring Rafael Devers, the San Francisco Giants are open to trading him to another team and dumping his salary,” Boston Strong quoted MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Devers landed in San Francisco with much fanfare. The team waited to land names like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Shohei Ohtani for years, but failed. Devers, with his career .275 batting and 244 homers, served as the perfect alternative. The Giants waited no longer to give up a significant part of their farm system. But the reality came out differently.

Last year, Devers entered the Giants clubhouse when the team was at 41-31. While Devers was supposed to strengthen their plate numbers, the Giants went on to lose 10 games out of their next 14 games and ultimately missed the playoffs. Devers finished off the year with a .236 batting average, and this year, it’s no different.

The Giants are currently 29-43 and ranked fourth in the division.

Devers is currently posting career-low offensive numbers, including a sub-.240 batting average and a ballooning strikeout rate. Moreover, his presence at first base and designated hitter is actively blocking the development of young, highly-touted prospect Bryce Eldridge. By trading Devers, the Giants didn’t just add a batter, but a lineup-changing star. That’s surely not happening.

In this case, the Giants need to build the team from scratch and thus need to offload a few. Along with Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman are also rumored to be on the trade list. This would allow the Giants to save around $80 million in luxury tax AAV. If a few names could get added. Hopefully, the new additions could lift the team up from their current slump.

The Giants are correcting themselves from the Rafael Devers trade. And it might just have offered a chance to the Boston Red Sox to correct themselves as well.

A reunion between the Red Sox and Rafael Devers could be in the line

Trading Devers to the Giants was the result of a botched plan. The Red Sox failed to communicate their Alex Bregman plan and forced him to shuffle his positions. Although Devers was expected to be a team man, he chose not to align with the team and protested. “I know I’m a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there. In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove. I wasn’t going to play any position other than DH. Right now, I don’t think it would be an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position,” Devers said back then.

The Red Sox eventually chose to trade him, but couldn’t gain anything after the trade.

DH position immediately plummeted in league rankings, heavily lacking home run output and overall slugging percentage. The four players Boston initially received in the trade including pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks, have since been dealt to other franchises. That has left little return for the franchise. Hence, now if the Red Sox could trade Rafael Devers back to Boston, the team could have a chance to correct itself. Maybe Craig Breslow would fend off a part of his rough decisions.