You may be interested in: Rafael Devers is presented by the San Francisco Giants: “I will play where they put me”
Martínez, a key figure in the historic 2004 championship team, emphasized that the lack of involvement of figures respected by Devers was a strategic error that could have been avoided.“The most important thing I’ve realized is that the Red Sox had a great opportunity to keep everything, including Devers’ attitude, internally, among the players, within the clubhouse, with the baseball people (of the team). The Red Sox have a lot of people. If you called Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz or me to mediate the situation, I am very sure that we would have convinced Devers to do everything the Red Sox wanted him to do”, sentenced the former Dominican pitcher.
According to the Dominican icon, the relationship between Devers and the team deteriorated due to poor communication and lack of internal management. He emphasized that even Alex Cora, with whom Devers had trust, failed to adequately convey the message to the player.“I haven’t talked much about the subject, because I didn’t really participate much in this situation. I must tell you that I think we made a mistake as an organization by letting it get out of hand,” he added.
“Devers is a guy who doesn’t speak much in Spanish, English, or any other language. You need to know him well to be able to tell him what to do, and I think both Alex and the Red Sox dropped the ball in this situation.”
Although he regrets the outcome, Pedro Martínez acknowledged that both parties have taken positive directions: Boston received valuable talent in return, and Devers will have a new beginning in San Francisco, under the guidance of veterans like Buster Posey.
Pedro’s words add to those of other iconic former players like David Ortiz and Manny Ramírez, who have also expressed their regret over the way Devers’ time in Boston ended, and share the view that the conflict could have been avoided with a more humane and less media-driven strategy.
