The Giants’ huge $255 million gamble on Rafael Devers has become a big problem faster than anyone expected. The Giants traded for Devers last year. Now, just one year later, they are ready to move on. Last year’s massive trade for a great hitter now looks like a complete mistake. Devers is batting just .235 this season. His poor hitting is very costly for a team that still owes him over $211 million 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 .273 batting and 244 homers, served as the perfect alternative. The Giants gladly gave up top young players like Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs III to get him. But the results have been very bad.

When Devers joined the team last year, the Giants had a good 41-31 record. He was supposed to make their offense better. Instead, the Giants lost 10 of their next 14 games and missed the playoffs. Devers finished that year with a low .236 batting average. Over time, the team slowly lost faith in him.

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 strikes out almost 30% of the time. Experts say his bat speed has dropped, making it hard for him to hit fastballs. 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 trying to fix their mistake with the Devers trade. This situation might also give the Boston Red Sox a chance to fix theirs.

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.

Just like the Red Sox confused Devers with his position in Boston, the Giants failed to use him well in San Francisco. The Red Sox eventually chose to trade him, but couldn’t gain anything after the trade.

After he left, Boston’s designated hitters played terribly. The team hit very few home runs. 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. Meanwhile, Harrison is now playing great for Milwaukee with an 8-1 record.

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 some of his rough decisions.