Rafael Devers has gone from a deadline fantasy to an offseason talking point in New York, and this time the idea is getting pushed beyond Yankees fans and into the ESPN conversation.
A loud segment of the Yankees’ fan base, with CC Sabathia helping fan the flames, wanted the club to chase Devers at the 2026 trade deadline. The thinking then was simple: his contract was big, his production had slipped from his usual standard, and that combination made him look like the kind of player a team could maybe pry loose by taking on money instead of surrendering a pile of prospects.
Now Buster Olney and Paul Hembekides are floating a different version of the same idea. Their case is that the San Francisco Giants could look to move Devers this offseason, and that New York would be the cleanest fit if Buster Posey decides to unload that deal.
Hembekides laid out the argument this way: "[Devers] would be a great fit next to George Lombard Jr., and I'll tell you why, man. Mine is a nonstandard opinion.
I think he can fake it at third base. But when you have a superhero playing shortstop, which I believe Lombard will be, you don't need a Gold Glover playing third base for you.
And I do believe the Yankees could coach Devers up to such an extent," Hembekides said.
The third-base angle matters because it solves a real roster problem for the Yankees. They don’t have much offensive punch at the hot corner right now, especially against left-handers, where Amed Roario has disappointed. Moving Devers there would also ease the traffic jam at first base and designated hitter, where Ben Rice, Luis Garcia Jr., and maybe Giancarlo Stanton are all in the mix.
Lombard Jr. is a big part of why this idea has traction. He’s had some bumps at shortstop, but the upside is obvious.
When he first arrived, he piled up eight defensive runs saved over his first 100 big league innings. He now has nine defensive runs saved in 273 1/3 innings, miscues included.
The other major shift since deadline season is that Devers is hitting like himself again. Earlier in the year, the numbers were solid but not special, as he hit .249/.319/.479 in the first half.
Since then, he’s taken off, batting .275/.376/.611 over the second half, with 18 of his 37 home runs coming in that 52-game stretch. That’s the kind of bat a contender can justify paying for.
The money is still massive. Devers is owed $199.5 million over the next seven years, which comes out to $28.5 million annually.
But there are ways for the Yankees to soften the hit. If they move on from Stanton, they can eat just $15 million, helped by the terms of the trade with the Marlins that leave Miami covering the $10 million buyout on his 2028 option.
There’s also the timing angle, and that may be the biggest reason this idea has momentum now. The expectation is that once the lockout ends and a new CBA is in place, contracts added before the current agreement expires on Dec. 1 could be shielded from any salary cap or similar restrictions that follow.
That’s why an aggressive November deal would make sense for New York. It would let the Yankees add another prime-age slugger to build around Aaron Judge, while getting ahead of what could become a much tighter spending landscape. If they want another big bat to carry and protect the lineup, Devers is being framed as the obvious target.
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