The Boston Red Sox made one of the most shocking deals you're going to see during a season last year when they traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
This was a deal that shocked the baseball world and still has been felt to this day, a year later. Boston hasn't done well and neither have the Giants. Both sides have seemingly lost the deal and now Devers is actually available again.
For as much negativity as the Red Sox have gotten for the deal, one anonymous National League executive called it an "actually good deal" for Boston, but said the club's problem is that it gave up on Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs Jr. too quickly.
"That was actually a good deal for them,” an NL executive told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. “Look at what Harrison is doing this year and Tibbs looks like a solid outfield prospect. The problem is they moved them both too soon.”
This is a very fair point. Imagine how the perception around Boston would be right now if Harrison looked like a Cy Young Award contender in Boston instead of with the Milwaukee Brewers? Also, what if Tibbs had 19 homers and 59 RBIs in the Red Sox's farm system instead of the Los Angeles Dodgers'?
Things haven't worked out for Boston, but the Devers deal itself may not have been terrible. But a few moves since have.