Ceddanne Rafaela didn’t need much time to make his answer on Monday. During MLB All-Star Game media day, the Red Sox center fielder was asked a light one: who is your favorite former teammate?
Rafaela’s response was simple: "Devers."
That, of course, meant Rafael Devers, the former Boston star whom the Red Sox traded away during the 2025 season to the San Francisco Giants. Even after the move, Devers clearly still has a place in the minds of people inside the Boston clubhouse.
Rafaela is in the middle of an All-Star season, which earned him a spot in the Midsummer Classic, and the week has given players a chance to loosen up a bit with the media. This was one of those questions that wasn’t going to require a deep breakdown or a long answer. Rafaela smiled, named Devers, and that was that.
The trade has become a tricky one to sort through since Boston sent Devers to San Francisco. He hasn’t been at his best with the Giants, and the ripple effects kept going when San Francisco later moved Kyle Harrison, who had been acquired from the Giants, in the Caleb Durbin trade with the Brewers this offseason. With so many pieces shifting around, it’s hard to draw a clean conclusion from the whole thing.
But that wasn’t really the point of Rafaela’s answer anyway. The moment stood on its own: one former Red Sox teammate thinking back fondly on another. Sometimes that’s all it needs to be.
In Other News...
Willson Contreras Just Put More Pressure On Red Sox Deadline Plans
Willson Contreras has given the Red Sox another reason to think carefully as the trade deadline approaches. The newly minted All-Star has settled in as Bostons first baseman, and he made clear he has enjoyed his time at Fenway Park, where the atmosphere has only added to the appeal of staying put. With the club still in the playoff mix, his comfort level matters, especially for a team trying to balance short-term urgency with longer-term planning.
The timing also makes the situation harder to ignore because Contreras is under contract for two more seasons, which already makes a move less likely. Even so, the faint trade chatter around him has not disappeared entirely, and his preference to remain in Boston only sharpens the pressure on the front office as it decides whether to buy, hold, or reshape the roster in the days ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Make Curious Deadline Move During Playoff Push
The Red Sox added another layer to their roster shuffle by bringing in Jahmai Jones from Detroit for a player to be named later, a move that fits the kind of deadline maneuvering clubs make when they are trying to keep options open without paying a heavy price. Jones gives Boston an outfielder-designated hitter type with some big-league experience across several organizations, and he arrives with a track record that includes a strong season in Detroit not long ago.
For Boston, the more immediate significance is roster math. Jones slides onto the 40-man after Danny Coulombe was designated for assignment, and he will need a spot on the 26-man roster once play resumes, which makes this less of a pure depth add than a bet on whether the Red Sox can get something useful out of a player Detroit had already moved on from. The intrigue is whether Boston sees a short-term bench piece, a reclamation project, or simply a flexible name to keep in the mix as the playoff push tightens. [Read more 🡒]