{"id":2179,"date":"2026-06-15T15:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T15:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2179"},"modified":"2026-06-15T15:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T15:07:27","slug":"one-year-later-how-have-sf-giants-fared-since-acquiring-rafael-devers-in-shocking-blockbuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2179","title":{"rendered":"One year later, how have SF Giants’ fared since acquiring Rafael Devers in shocking blockbuster?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The veterans of the Giants\u2019 clubhouse share an understanding of the business of baseball. Teammates come and teammates go. There are signings and trades, cuts and call-ups. But the franchise-changing transaction that unfolded on June 15, 2025, is in a different category entirely.<\/p>\n

Read more California home insurance costs to rise 16% in 2026, largest jump in U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Exactly one year ago, president of baseball operations Buster Posey pulled off one of the most shocking trades in franchise history. Four players \u2014 Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III and Jose Bello \u2014 to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Rafael Devers, one of baseball\u2019s best bats.<\/p>\n

There were no rumors, no speculation, no murmurings. Just a trade that has altered \u2014 and will continue to alter \u2014 the trajectory of this franchise for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a surprise,\u201d said third baseman Matt Chapman. \u201cIt happens fast, I knew Buster wanted to get something done. I think that\u2019s kind of the way he operates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moment commanded celebration. The future appeared bright. The Giants\u2019 lineups hadn\u2019t featured a power bat capable of consistently reaching 30 home runs and 100 RBIs since Barry Bonds retired after the 2007 season. A month before the 2025 trade deadline, Posey was adding a three-time All-Star to a team that was in first place in the NL West.<\/p>\n

The aftermath of the trade, however, has been far less sparkling.<\/p>\n

A year removed from acquiring Devers \u2014 and about $200 million remaining on his contract that runs through 2033 \u2014 the biggest trade in franchise history, let\u2019s take a look at what\u2019s happened over the last year, and try to forecast what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

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Devers\u2019 credentials at the time of the trade were hard to deny. From 2021-2024, Devers ranked 11th in home runs (126), 12th in slugging percentage (.519) and 14th in OPS (.873) among all major leaguers. Devers averaged <\/em>about 32 homers and 96 RBIs per season during that time frame.<\/p>\n

At the time of the trade, Devers was putting together another great season in Boston: a .272 batting average, .905 OPS and 15 homers while leading the American League in walks (56). The Giants, even with the splashy addition of free agent shortstop Willy Adames, still featured a below-average offense, entering the day of the trade ranked 20th in wRC+ (95), 23rd in OPS (.688) and 25th in batting average (.233).<\/p>\n

Since joining San Francisco, Devers, 29, hasn\u2019t hit the heights he reached in Boston.<\/p>\n

Over 162 games as a Giant, exactly a full season\u2019s worth of games, Devers has hit .235\/.323\/.438\u00a0with 29 home runs and 84 RBIs. Among 140 qualified hitters, Devers ranks 31st in home runs (29), 67th in OPS (.762), 67th in wRC+ (113) and 112th in WAR (per FanGraphs\u2019 calculation).<\/p>\n

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While Devers hit well in his first months as a Giant (20 home runs, 51 RBIs, .807 OPS), Devers has effectively been a league-average hitter this season on the whole. Devers is hitting .235\/.293\/.413 with nine homers over 72 games this season, but those numbers are primarily the product of an awful first month of the season. Since May began, Devers is hitting .256\/.323\/.438 and has been 29 percent better than a league-average hitter.<\/p>\n

One of the more concerning trends in Devers\u2019 first full season as a Giant has been his sudden drop in walk rate. Devers\u2019 112 walks and 15.4 percent walk rate in 2025 were both career highs. This season, Devers is on pace to draw only 50 walks, which would be his fewest in a full season since 2022.<\/p>\n

Read more City may buy San Jose building to help spur housing project nearby<\/a><\/p>\n

Devers is swinging more on pitches outside of the strike zone this season (25.5% in 2025 to 30.5% in 2026), but what really sticks out is the number of pitches Devers is seeing in the zone. This season, 49.9 percent of the pitches Devers has seen have been in the strike zone, the highest since he was a rookie in 2017. Pitchers are challenging Devers more often, but he\u2019s not making them pay as he did in Boston.<\/p>\n

Devers\u2019 bat speed, despite a concerning first month, is effectively the same this season as it was last year, but it will only continue to fall as he ages. In 2023, Devers\u2019 average bat speed was 73.4 mph. It was down to 72.5 mph in 2024, then further fell to 71.6 mph in 2025.<\/p>\n

While Devers has at least been an above-average hitter since joining San Francisco, the team has been one of the worst in baseball.<\/p>\n

The Giants are 69-93 since Devers made his debut, the\u00a027th-worstwinning percentage in the majors (.426) in that timeframe. They were 41-30 on the day of the trade, right behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (42-29) at the top of the NL West, but went 40-51 the rest of the way. The Giants had chances to sneak into the playoffs despite trading several veterans at the trade deadline, but finished the season 81-81, two games out of a wild-card spot and costing Bob Melvin his job.<\/p>\n

Devers\u2019 first full season in San Francisco hasn\u2019t gone much better. Under new manager Tony Vitello, the Giants are 29-43 and are tied for the second-worst record in baseball with the Kansas City Royals. They haven\u2019t swept a team this year and their longest winning streak has been three games.<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 lineup has finally started to mash following an anemic start to the season, but the pitching staff has been among the worst in the majors. San Francisco\u2019s pitchers rank 22nd in ERA, 17th in FIP and 27th in the majors in WAR entering Monday, and those struggles don\u2019t come as a surprise given that the Giants\u2019 brass didn\u2019t make enough substantial moves to address areas of need.<\/p>\n

Tyler Mahle (6.04 ERA) might not be in the rotation when he returns from the injured list, while Adrian Houser (5.54 ERA, 13 starts) may follow an opener due to his inconsistencies. Harrison Bader has already been placed on the injured list twice with different ailments as well. The only signing this offseason that has substantially impacted winning is second baseman Luis Arraez, who has shockingly become an excellent defender and is putting up the best season of his career.<\/p>\n

The party that\u2019s most benefited from this trade one year in has been neither the Giants nor the Red Sox, but in a roundabout way, the Milwaukee Brewers.<\/p>\n

Harrison made three appearances for Boston before being traded to Milwaukee in February, and with the Brewers, Harrison has had a season worthy of an All-Star appearance. Over 13 starts, Harrison is posting a 2.47 ERA with 80 strikeouts over 65 2\/3 innings. Earlier this month, Harrison matched his career-high of 12 strikeouts against his old team.<\/p>\n

The Devers era hasn\u2019t gone according to plan since he arrived last June, both for himself and the team. San Francisco has locked itself into multiple long-term contracts between Devers, Adames, Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee, and the team\u2019s hypothetical window to win is the present. And while rookie Bryce Eldridge looks to be a rising star, the Giants still need to find ways to complement this core and maximize the remainder of their veterans\u2019 primes.<\/p>\n

Read more Customers worry their landlines are languishing as AT&T escalates bid to drop mandatory service in California<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Giants are 69-93 since Rafael Devers made his debut with the team last June<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nOne year later, how have SF Giants’ fared since acquiring Rafael Devers in shocking blockbuster? - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2179\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One year later, how have SF Giants’ fared since acquiring Rafael Devers in shocking blockbuster? - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Giants are 69-93 since Rafael Devers made his debut with the team last June\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2179\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T15:07:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"One year later, how have SF Giants’ fared since acquiring Rafael Devers in shocking blockbuster?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T15:07:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179\"},\"wordCount\":1195,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/153966c16587291f983349f0673a4f8e.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2179\",\"name\":\"One year later, how have SF Giants’ fared since acquiring Rafael Devers in shocking blockbuster? 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