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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – It has been said that Buster Posey acquired no elite players or particularly expensive ones when assembling the Giants’ 2026 roster over the offseason.
But there’s a newcomer to spring training that’s the main addition in Posey’s presidency. The big cheese of his acquisitions. The grand poobah of his transactions. The heavyweight champion of his roster moves.
Yes, we’re counting Rafael Devers as a newcomer.
For the first time as a Giant, Devers is in training camp preparing for a new year. Granted, he wasn’t among the offseason acquisitions along with center fielder Harrison Bader, second baseman Luis Arráez, and a few pitchers; he was acquired from Boston back in June, several weeks before the trade deadline. But he’s approaching his first full season in San Francisco, and it’s significant that the Giants will break camp with their most feared hitter since Barry Bonds.
“It makes it easier now that I know my teammates, now that I know everybody,” Devers said through interpreter Erwin Higueros after Tuesday’s workout at Scottsdale Stadium. “I feel very comfortable.”
It’s common throughout the industry to downplay Posey’s offseason moves because the team didn’t sign premier free agents such as outfielders Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger or pitchers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez.
But Bader and Arráez figure to make the lineup far more threatening, and Bader vows to dramatically upgrade the outfield defense. Furthermore, Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle were added to the rotation. More than all of that, Devers is in his first Giants camp and catching everybody’s eye by crushing balls in batting practice and spending ample time working on his defense at first base.
He’s also sharing lofty goals that’ll undoubtedly pique fans’ interest.
“Try to hit 30 or more home runs.”
It’s not unreasonable, and it would be huge in the wake of Willy Adames becoming the first Giant to hit 30 homers since Bonds in 2004. Devers reached 30 homers four of the past six years (excluding the shortened 2020 pandemic season) including 35 last year: 15 with the Red Sox, 20 with the Giants.
Today
4 days ago
Tuesday, Feb. 10
The last time the Giants had two 30-homer guys? When Bonds and Jeff Kent teamed up in 2002.
With Bader and Arráez added to the mix, Devers said, “I think we have a very good lineup. We can compete with anyone. Our lineup is scary.” He added Arráez “changes everything.”
New manager Tony Vitello is thrilled to inherit the slugger and was wowed when first meeting Devers in December during a visit to the Dominican Republic.
Vitello called the highlight of the trip “his smile. He’s got a goofy laugh if I’m allowed to say that. Unique, I should say. By year’s end or during his time in San Francisco, if somebody doesn’t offer a sponsorship or advertisement that has to do with his smile, they’re missing out. Out of the whole locker room, that’s the one that lights up a room more than anything.”
Devers might be smiling because he’s no longer wearing a Red Sox uniform.
A year after a chaotic spring with Boston – in which Devers lost his position at third base to Alex Bregman, was told he’d transition to designated hitter, then was asked to play first base in May when Triston Casas sustained a season-ending injury – the positive vibes are omnipresent in Giants camp.
Devers showed up several days in advance of Monday’s first full-squad workout and is yucking it up with teammates and advising young players. He’s trying to put the Boston negativity behind him even after Red Sox chairman Tom Werner took shots at him this week.
“It was a discouraging episode,” Werner told the Boston Globe. “Just pick up a glove.”
Werner also said, “I don’t like to speak ill of any player. I’d like to say that he’s a wonderful person. But, of course, when we had an injury at first base, his unwillingness to play that position was extremely discouraging.”
Devers was asked about the quotes Tuesday and didn’t bite.
“I don’t have any opinions of what’s being said,” Devers said. “I’m here right now. I concentrate here and leave the past in the past.”
With the Giants, Devers can comfortably blend in with other veterans and needn’t be the leader. In fact, he said, “I don’t want to be called a leader. I don’t want to come across that I’m a leader. I just like to do the little things. If I know I can help somebody in hitting, somebody I could share my experience and knowledge with, like I have so many years in the big leagues, that’s what I want to do.”
That’s fine with the Giants, who are set in the leadership ranks with Adames, Matt Chapman, and Logan Webb. All the Giants want from Devers is to keep swinging away.
Devers’ bat was never in question. It’s what prompted Posey to pull off the blockbuster trade. It’s the defense that has been a work in progress. With Chapman, a five-time Gold Glover, secure at third base, Devers agreed to transition to first base, a position he never played in pro ball until making 28 starts late last season with San Francisco.
That defensive guru Ron Washington is the Giants’ new infield coach should greatly help Devers, who said, “I’m listening and open to whatever pointers he has for me to improve.”
Devers is working daily at first base alongside 6-foot-7 Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top prospect. Like Devers, Eldridge is relatively new to the position. And like Devers, he flashes elite exit velocity. It could be a momentous setup if they’re in the lineup together pounding balls all over Oracle Park. When that’s the case, Eldridge likely would serve as the designated hitter and fill in for Devers here and there.
“I hope he gets the opportunity to play there,” Devers said.
Tuesday, on the main field at Scottsdale Stadium, most of the projected everyday players took three at-bats apiece against Giants pitchers. Devers’ first at-bat was off Carson Seymour, and afterward, he approached the young right-hander to compliment him on his repertoire, another sign he’s fitting in.
Devers has made the loudest contact in BP and sent balls the furthest. And as Vitello noted, the smile tells much of the story.
Clearly, Devers is in a good place. It’s as if San Francisco is the anti-Boston in his mind.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I’m very relaxed.”