Yankees’ Gerrit Cole is smiling at what the Red Sox just did

Hours after the Boston Red Sox swept the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon, they made their second franchise-changing trade since 2020.

Boston traded three-time All-Star slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs (outfielder) and Jose Bello (pitcher), according to reports. The Giants will take on all of Devers’ salary; he is in the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million deal he signed to start 2024.

“They are absolutely stunned at how quickly this came together,” ESPN MLB reporter Buster Olney said on the “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast.

Devers has been at the center of the Red Sox’s dysfunction this season over his position.

Devers insisted he was the team’s third baseman before switching to designated hitter when the team signed Alex Bregman in the offseason. When Triston Casas was sidelined by a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about filling in at first base. He declined, and suggested the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.

A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.

But there’s no doubt that Devers is one of the game’s best hitters. He is batting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs this season. His last home run as a Red Sox player came against the Yankees on Sunday.

Devers’ 205 home runs since 2018, when he played his first full season, rank 10th in baseball.

Boston is undoubtedly weaker in the short-term, making their AL East rivals, like the Yankees, happier tonight than they were at game time this afternoon.

One player who will be especially thankful to not face Devers as much is injured Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. In 44 career regular-season at-bats, Devers has 14 hits, including eight home runs and 20 RBIs. He is batting .350/.435/.975, by far the strongest production against Cole in his career. Devers is also 1 for 2 against Cole in the playoffs, with three walks and an RBI.

The Red Sox improved to 37-36 with their three-game sweep against New York. But they are fourth in the AL East, trailing the division-leading Yankees by 6 1/2 games.

Devers first signed with Boston as an international free agent in August 2013. He was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 25, 2017.

He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for AL MVP five times.

Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season -- just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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