SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rafael Devers’ smile is back. He’s clearer heading into spring training. Carrying less. Traveling lighter. He has his third child on the way, after all, to join his two girls.
“A boy,” he said, beaming with pride.
There’s a wholeness to him again. He’s engaging once more. The kid nicknamed “Carita” (little face) now has the Giants seeing that side of him.
“If somebody doesn’t offer something that has to do with a smile sponsorship or advertisement, they’re missing out,” said first-year manager Tony Vitello. “Because out of the whole locker room, that’s the one that lights up a room more than anything.”
That wasn’t the case last spring when Devers was still with the Red Sox. He didn’t, for the most part, light up a room. He felt betrayed. Wronged. Wronged because the Red Sox never told him they were pursuing Alex Bregman to take over third base, a position where Devers struggled, but saw as his own.
When Bregman was introduced at Fenway South, Devers headed toward the players’ parking lot during the press conference.
“I play third,” he said.
Yet he finally relinquished, moving to the DH role. You thought the saga might be over because Devers was thriving at that spot. He and Bregman hitting back-to-back in the lineup finally offered Devers the protection he sorely missed following the loss of J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts some years prior. But there was, again, another wrinkle that arose. Triston Casas got hurt. They needed a first baseman and turned to Devers.
He told them no.
In mid-June, the Red Sox traded him to the Giants, along with what was left on his 10-year $313 million contract. Sourness arrived in a marriage split that had been brewing for some months.
Some still hold onto some bitterness.
“Just pick up a glove,” chairman Tom Werner told the Boston Globe this week.
By the time Devers was asked about it Tuesday, he was ready to move on.
“It’s over,” Devers responded. “I don’t have any opinions on what is being said. I’m here right now, so let’s concentrate here and just leave the past in the past.”
In the present, Devers heads into the 2026 season as the Giants’ primary first baseman, working with infield guru Ron Washington. His bat still speaks the most, wasting no time by sending balls consistently onto the concourse at Scottsdale Stadium.
For a lineup that has lacked thump for years, Devers is the great equalizer. Around all the drama last season, Devers still managed to belt 35 homers, drive in 109 runs and put up a .851 OPS.
“The sound is different off his bat,” said Buster Posey, the Giants’ president of baseball operations.
In Boston, Devers was asked to be the leader of the club once he signed his contract. But money doesn’t always equal leadership, and it was a role Devers neither sought nor felt comfortable embracing. That’s what stood out Tuesday. During the team meeting, Devers got up and spoke to the group, uncharacteristic of him. Still, he doesn’t label himself a leader. Nor does he have to be. Willy Adames and Matt Chapman fill that void.
“I don’t want to come across that I’m a leader,” Devers said. “I just like to do the little things. If I can help somebody hitting, or sharing my experience, my knowledge that I have after so many years in the big leagues, that’s what I want to do.”
The Red Sox trade will never go away. That’s the way it goes in that market. Just ask Mookie Betts. Or Nomar Garciaparra. But Devers’ introversion covers him from the noise.
“Boston is in the past,” he said. “I don’t have social media. I don’t go on the internet or read anything.”
That’s enough to get him smiling again.
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