Red Sox

Rafael Devers, Red Sox reportedly have $100-million gap in contract talks

Devers is reportedly looking for a deal that would make him "Red Sox for life."

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers reacts to his one run double against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Detroit. AP Photo/Paul Sancya

By Tom Westerholm

April 13, 2022

Rafael Devers and the Red Sox couldn’t come to an agreement in contract talks prior to the season.

According to Jon Heyman, writing in the New York Post, the reason is pretty clear: The gap between the two sides is enormous — “surely more than $100 million,” Heyman wrote.

“The Red Sox are said to have offered the excellent young slugger Devers nothing like what he was seeking in terms of length or dollars,” Heyman wrote. “Word is, Devers was looking for an ultra-long deal that would have made him a ‘Red Sox for life,’ while the club was thinking more like a contract for much less length — a kind of half-life deal. The team’s exact offer isn’t known, but suffice it to say, they were surely more than $100 million apart.”

Meanwhile, according to Heyman, the Red Sox and Xander Bogaerts are even farther apart.

“[Bogaerts] received an offer from Boston to simply add one year to the three he has his left on his deal,” Heyman wrote. “Sources suggest it was for about $30 million in that extra year, bringing his potential total to about $90 million.”

“A friend of Bogaerts referred to Boston’s bid as a ‘slap in the face,'” Heyman added.

Heyman wrote that Bogaerts and his negotiating team didn’t even bother with a counteroffer.

Chaim Bloom told Heyman that the Red Sox want to keep both Devers and Bogaerts, even though they signed Trevor Story to a six-year deal this offseason.

“Trevor doesn’t change our desire to keep the other two guys,” Bloom said, per Heyman. “We’re hopeful we can keep both guys.”

Devers reportedly does not want to have contract negotiations during the season.