KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Red Sox principal owner John Henry, president/CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow don’t usually appear, all together, at random May road games. On Friday, though, they made sure they were seen.
One day after slugger Rafael Devers expressed an unwillingness to move to first base and ripped Breslow in a media session, Henry, Kennedy and Breslow took an unplanned trip to the Midwest to try to clear the air with him. Before the Sox’ series opener against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, the trio of Henry, Devers and manager Alex Cora met in the manager’s office. The events of the day delayed Cora’s pregame availability by more than an hour.
Henry, who is rarely seen on the road these days, declined comment while standing in the Red Sox dugout. Breslow, who was not present for the sit-down, said he heard it went well.
“It’s probably wise for some of these matters to stay between John and Raffy but my understanding is that it was productive dialogue,” Breslow said. “There was honest exchange by both sides. I think we’re gonna walk out of this in a much better place.”
After Thursday’s win over the Rangers, Devers — who expressed displeasure in February when the Red Sox asked him to move from third base to designated hitter after signing Alex Bregman — said that Breslow had approached him about moving again, this time to first base in the wake of Triston Casas’ knee injury. Devers said he told the club he did not want to change positions for the second time in 2025 and that he didn’t want to learn a position he had never played as a professional.
“They had the conversation with me,” Devers said through translator Daveson Perez on Thursday. “I don’t think for me personally it’s the best decision after they asked me to play a different position and I only have two months of playing this position. To all of a sudden have me try to play another position … from my end, it doesn’t seem like a good decision.
Devers said “no” when asked if there’s a chance he will change his mind.
“I don’t think so,” Devers said. “They told me I’m a little hard-headed. They already asked me to change once and this time I don’t think I can be as flexible.”
On Friday, with a full-on feud seemingly brewing, the Red Sox lept to action.
“I thought it was productive,“ Cora said. ”Obviously, having everybody here and in the same place, it means a lot, not only for us on the ground but for the players and to Raffy, too. I thought it was good.
“It was a good conversation. He expressed his feelings. John did the same thing,” Cora added. “We talked a little bit. Everybody saw who was here. That carries weight in the clubhouse.”
A big part of Henry’s message to Devers, Breslow said, revolved around being a good teammate.
“We felt like it was important based on the situation that unfolded yesterday to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox — that being great teammates for each other. We think we had a productive conversation,” Breslow said.
“Based on how things very publicly unfolded yesterday, there was an opportunity to address this and reinforce what we think is important, what has been important to this ownership group, what’s important to players, staff and the front office. We were able to do that and obviously, Raffy is a really big, important part of this team. I think it’s important these things get addressed.”
Breslow explained what he considered a good teammate to be.
“Number one, it’s being an honest and open with communication,” he said. “It is recognizing when there is an opportunity to step up when there’s a need for the group to be put above any individual achievement or accomplishment. It’s important that gets reinforced given what we want to accomplish.”
Notably, neither Cora or Breslow gave a definitive answer when asked if Devers — who is hitting second as the designated hitter Friday — will begin taking reps at first base. Breslow described the team’s plans for the position as “secondary to other conversations” with Devers and Cora said there were no immediate plans for increased work on the field. Conversations will continue.
“Right now, we’re just talking about a possible change of a position,” Cora said. “This is where we’re at right now. We lost our first baseman. We’re exploring every way to improve.
Devers and Breslow — the target of the slugger’s frustrations Thursday — did not have a 1-on-1 meeting to hash things out. Breslow believes that will eventually take place over the natural course of the schedule.
“These aren’t the types of moves that can be made overnight,” Breslow said. “The initial conversation Raffy and I had was of an exploratory nature.
“Raffy was clearly frustrated with the situation. My reaction was, potentially there was some misunderstanding on the communication or an opportunity to more clearly provide communication. Hopefully, that was a step in the right direction here today.
“It’s unfortunate we’re in the situation that we are right now. As you approach every decision, you try to provide as much clear communication as possible. It’s my job to always put the priorities of the organization first. But I should also be evaluating every interaction I have with players and I’ll continue to do that.”
In any case, an attempt to move past the hard feelings started Friday with what Breslow hopes was an “honest, candid exchange” between Devers and Henry.
“It’s one of those days you try to avoid because of what happened yesterday,” said Cora. “Like I told Raffy and I said it a million times in Fort Myers, we don’t tell players what not to say. We respect them and we respect their opinions. Sometimes we don’t agree. Most of the time we do agree. For it to get to this point, it’s kind of weird. But the effort they made to get here and be part of the solution instead of making it a big issue, I think it means a lot.”
