The Boston Red Sox and star third baseman Rafael Devers are finalizing an 11-year, $331 million contract, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Joon Lee.
Devers and the BoSox agreed to a one-year, $17.5 million deal for the 2023 campaign on Tuesday to avoid arbitration. Per ESPN, Devers’ 11-year deal will go into effect this year and run through the 2033 season.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added the contract includes a $20 million signing bonus.
Devers has spent his entire six-year career with the Red Sox and has emerged as one of the best power-hitting third basemen in Major League Baseball, winning his first Silver Slugger award in 2021. Last season, he slashed .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 141 games for a Boston squad that finished last in the AL East with a 78-84 record.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom had been very vocal about wanting to keep Bogaerts in Boston beyond 2023. He said during an interview with ESPN’s Joon Lee last month:
“We will probably, I think, go beyond reason to try to get this done. Hopefully we can get this done. There are always going to be limitations, like people can just put something plain out of reach. Some people love to bet on themselves and I hope he hits 63 homers if he does that.”
By signing Devers to an extension, the Red Sox will avoid losing their third homegrown star since 2020. The team traded star right fielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2020 season, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres in free agency this winter.
In addition to locking up Devers, the Red Sox have had a busy offseason.
After losing Bogaerts to the Padres and starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi to the Texas Rangers in free agency, the club has signed Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida, infielder Justin Turner, starting pitcher Corey Kluber and bullpen arms Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin and Joely Rodríguez.
Those signings didn’t give Red Sox fans much hope for 2023 and beyond, but extending Devers turns around what has been a rather rough offseason for Boston.
