Betts on Devers trade: 'I just thought it was crazy'
Published
Mookie Betts might have felt a little bit of deja vu on Sunday night when the Boston Red Sox dealt Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a surprise blockbuster.
The trade elicited memories of Boston sending Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.
“I just thought it was crazy,” Betts told The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya late on Sunday. “Nothing really to say, it’s just crazy.”
Devers, 28, is in the third season of a 10-year, $313.5 million pact signed ahead of the 2022 season. Much of the motivation in the trade of Betts was Boston's reluctance to sign the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player to a long-term extension. Following his move to the Dodgers, the Nashville native signed a 12-year, $365 million deal.
“I genuinely don’t care,” Betts said of seeing his former team deal another member of its 2018 World Series-winning squad. “It just is what it is.”
Devers now joins another former Red Sox teammate, San Diego Padres infielder Xander Bogaerts, in opposing Betts in the highly competitive National League West. Betts says the trade is a real statement of intent from the Giants.
“I mean, they care, they want to win,” Betts said. “Those guys over there are doing a great job of putting a team together and, obviously, they want to win.”
Originally taken in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft, Betts is in his 12th big-league season. Through 65 games in 2025, the eight-time All-Star is batting .267 with 67 hits, nine home runs, 35 runs batted in and an OPS of .766.