Red Sox, Rafael Devers Avoid Arbitration With One-Year Contract

The Red Sox and Rafael Devers have reached a deal, just not the one Boston fans are hoping for — at least not yet.

The Sox and Devers have reached an agreement for the 2023 season, avoiding arbitration, the team announced Tuesday. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the news, reporting Devers will make $17.5 million for the upcoming season.

Devers is entering the final arbitration-eligible season of his rookie contract and will enter free agency following the 2023 season. Devers during the 2022 season said he hoped to reach a long-term agreement with Boston, and the Red Sox expressed a similar desire as recently as the winter meetings. However, there were similar sentiments on both sides with Xander Bogaerts, and the two sides didn’t reach an extension agreement, with Bogaerts eventually leaving Boston for San Diego.

Over the course of his career, Devers has developed into one of the best third basemen in baseball. In 2022, he made his second straight All-Star Game, named a starter for the American League. He went on to hit .295 with 27 home runs and 88 RBIs in 141 games for Boston.

The 26-year-old is hitting .292 with an .884 OPS since the start of the 2019 season, with a home run pace that would equal 34 dingers per 162 games.