The San Francisco Giants pulled off the biggest trade of the season so far by acquiring slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday evening, trading away pitchers Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, Jose Bello and outfielder James Tibbs III. San Francisco will take on the remaining roughly $250 million of Dever's $313.5 million deal with Boston.
Following the trade, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey broke down how the blockbuster move came into place. Per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Posey shared that he first reached out to Red Sox executive Craig Breslow a few weeks ago to talk about Devers.
Posey shared Monday on KNBR that he initially thought it was a low possibility the trade would come into place, but after he reached out, Giants general manager Zak Minasian remained in touch with the Red Sox about the trade. Posey and Breslow hammered out the final details, and as the trade approached, ownership got involved, with the Giants' owners agreeing to take on the remainder of Devers's massive deal to bring him to the Bay Area.
The trade notably took place in June, adding to the surprise of the move, but Posey said to KNBR that when he and Breslow became aligned on a deal, they didn't feel the need to wait around until closer to the trade deadline.
"We didn't need to wait around," Posey said. "Craig and I talked a lot about trying to make a good baseball deal. At that point there was no need to wait for another six weeks."
Posey also touched on the decision to acquire Devers, noting that it was tough to give up several talented pitchers and take on as large of a contract as Devers's.
"I believe the foundation to success is pitching and defense," Posey told KNBR. "We had to give up a promising young starter in Kyle Harrison, which is not an easy thing to do. Another big arm in Jordan Hicks and our first-round pick last year and another intriguing arm in Bello."
Ultimately though, the Giants didn't want to pass up the opportunity to acquire a batter like Devers, especially when it's been tough for them to sign great hitters in free agency.
"The bat is so special," Posey said Sunday of Devers, via Pavlovic. "It's just really hard to acquire this type of talent at this point of his career. We're obviously taking on a lot of money. We're giving up some pitching, we're giving up our first-round pick last year, so it didn't come without a cost. It felt like this was a chance to take a shot."
The Giants are thrilled about the addition of Devers, who will make his debut for San Francisco this week.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Buster Posey Reveals How Giants Pulled Off Trade for Rafael Devers With Red Sox.
