Red Sox and third baseman Raphael Devers They have agreed to an extension that will keep him in Boston through the 2033 season. While several outlets reported this as an 11-year extension worth $331MM, Devers and Sox already agreed to a $17.5MM salary through 2023. By MLBTR’s standards, he agreed to a ten-year, $313.5MM extension today. There are no opt-outs in the contract, and he will not have a no-trade clause. The deal is pending and not yet official. Devers Rep 1 is represented by baseball.
Devers, 26, was poised to enter his final year in club control when he and the club recently agreed to a $17.5MM salary through 2023 to avoid arbitration. He was scheduled to reach free agency after the upcoming campaign, but now appears to be sticking around for an additional decade, with the deal set to take him through the 2033 campaign and his age-36 season. When completed, the $313.5MM guarantee will easily break the record for largest History of ownershipIt was previously held by a $217MM contract David Price. It will also be the 10th biggest guarantee MLB HistoryAn average annual value of $31.35MM would put him in the top 20 All the time.
Devers will now stick with the only company he’s ever known and could spend his entire career in Boston. Left the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old in August 2013, earning him a $1.5MM bonus. He worked his way through the minors and was viewed by many as one of the best prospects in the game. Baseball America ranked him in the top 20 of their Top 100 list in both 2016 and 2017. That postseason, Devers cracked the majors and made his debut at just 20 years old. Despite that young age, he hit 10 home runs in 58 games and compiled a .284/.338/.482 batting line. This led to a wRC+ of 110, indicating he was 10% better than the league average hitter.
Devers had a sophomore slump in 2018, but has largely put that behind him. Over the last four years, he hit 108 home runs and produced an overall batting line of .292/.352/.532. That production was 32% better than the league average based on the wRC+ metric, ranking him among the top 25 hitters in the league at the time.
For the Red Sox, it’s been a rollercoaster time for the franchise over the past few years. They hoisted the World Series trophy in 2018, but then saw the star right fielder Mookie Bets Traded to Dodgers with Price. While the Sox acquired some interesting players, it was widely seen as a financially motivated decision, a bitter pill for fans to swallow after a strong run that saw them win four titles from 2004 to 2018. Last place in the American League East in the shortened 2020 campaign.
Although the club surprised many observers by returning to the 2021 post-season, they endured another disappointing campaign in 2022, finishing last in the division for the second time in three years. This season, another star player took off at shortstop Xander Bogaerts withdrew from his contract. Although Sacks maintained that retaining Bogarts was a priority, he instead Signed $280MM over 11 years with the Padres, while Boston came up just short of the $160MM range.
With Betts and Bogarts both moving to California, attention turned to Devers. With free agency just one year away, many wondered whether the Friar Faithful should hold out for a third superstar for a four-year stretch or a three-year stretch if the club considers a trade. The Reporting The matter looked dire two months ago, indicating that the sides are no closer to negotiating an extension with Boston to offer something closer to $212MM. Instead, they’ve stepped up big to ensure Devers is the face of the franchise for years to come. Long term, Devers may have to move from third base to first base because his defense isn’t as highly regarded as his bat. But those will be conversations for later days, and the club will have 11 years to figure out how to line up.
In the short term, this won’t change the makeup of the Red Sox on the field, as Devers is already part of the 2023 club. But it can have an impact on the financial ledger. Devers previously counted $17.5MM on Boston’s luxury tax bill but that figure will now rise to $30.09MM. The specific breakdown of the Devers contract is unknown, but the competitive reserve tax is calculated based on the average annual value of the contract, so the breakdown does not change the CBT calculations. With that new figure, the club’s total CBT figure now stands at $224MM, according to calculations Catalog resource. That puts them within striking distance of the lowest luxury tax threshold of $233MM this year. And any additions, this season or as the season progresses, could push them into limbo. As they have paid tax in 2022, they will be treated as a second time payer in 2023.
Former player Carlos Berga initially said the two sides agreed InstagramBut the terms are 11 years and $332MM. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletics First posted a figure of $331MM and added a $20MM signing bonus. ESPN’s Jeff Basson He clarified that the agreement covers 2023 and beyond that only ten years will be added. Jon Heyman of the New York Post First the non-trade segment and Boston Globe Alex Speier At first there was a lack of deviations.
