The Rafael Devers saga is supposedly squashed. Supposedly being the key word here.
Devers’ initial refusal to be lifted for a pinch runner late in the Giants’ loss against the Marlins on Sunday was impossible to ignore. Devers waved off manager Tony Vitello from first base while Jonah Cox, his would-be replacement, stood awkwardly near the line awaiting further instruction.
After a brief standoff, Devers finally relented, removing his helmet and retreating to the dugout, though not before sidestepping an attempted pat on the rear from bench coach Jayce Tingler.
“We sat next to each other on the plane, had a good conversation,” Vitello told reporters.
“I apologized,” said Devers. “It was the right thing for me to do.”
Devers, who has battled hamstring issues throughout his career, later said he believed Vitello removed him because of his health, not because the Giants were trying to tie a one-run game in the ninth inning.
And that’s where the truth gets a little muddy. Because this wasn’t the first time Devers had bristled at being removed for a pinch runner. During his time in Boston, he had a similar run-in with the Red Sox and then-manager Alex Cora after being lifted late in a game, though the incident never became public.
This is why Sunday’s episode can’t be dismissed as a one-off.
Instead, it reflected both the dysfunction that has followed the Giants throughout the season and the type of behavior that ultimately contributed to Devers’ exit from Boston.
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‘Good guy… a bit of brat in him’
Devers is a hitter. Whether he’s traded again before the Aug. 3 deadline this year or not, expect him to eventually return to form. His on-field struggles shouldn’t be the question. The makeup behind them, however, perhaps should.
The Red Sox traded Devers, in part, because of his refusal to play first base in the wake of the Alex Bregman signing. Equally important, the organization believed he had become a negative influence on some of the younger players in the clubhouse.
Yet even after arriving in San Francisco, some of those same traits lingered. There were days when Devers did not want to hit second in the lineup and, at times, did not want to play first base.
“He’s a good guy,” said one source. “But at the end of the day, Rafi is going to do what Rafi wants to do. There’s a bit of brat in him.”
That assessment aligns with the way Devers’ tenure in Boston ultimately unraveled.
The problems for Posey
All of this brings it to Buster Posey, the Giants’ president of baseball operations.
The Giants — who enter the weekend at 33-47, the second-worst record in the National League — did not merely acquire Devers’ bat. They acquired the entirety of the player: his immense offensive talent, his sensitivities, the resistance to change that comes with managing a star who, at times, can be stubborn.
“If I say the sky is blue and Rafi knows it’s blue, he’ll still say it’s red,” said a former teammate of Devers.
The Giants entered 2026 with lofty internal expectations. Willy Adames and Matt Chapman were expected to anchor the left side of the infield while providing much-needed right-handed power to the lineup. The pair was also expected to assume leadership roles, allowing Devers to simply focus on playing and, most importantly, slugging.
Though his hiring from the University of Tennessee drew skepticism from some within baseball, Vitello was expected to bring a fresh perspective. His coaching experience was limited to the college ranks, but Posey was unwavering in his belief that the game was getting younger and that Vitello’s baseball acumen would resonate with today’s players.
Clearly, much of that vision has fallen flat. The Giants enter Friday with a 33-47 record, the second-worst mark in the National League. Much of the blame rests with Posey, who, in addition to the on-field shortcomings, had a tense press conference earlier this week where he refused to answer questions about the team’s recent Pride Night controversy.
“There’s a smugness surrounding that organization,” said one person familiar with the inner workings of the Giants. “And Posey is at the heart of it.”
When Posey took over for Farhan Zaidi at the end of the 2024 season, the plan centered on returning the Giants to a more traditional style of baseball while still embracing analytics. Zaidi, who leaned heavily into data, failed to produce consistent results during his six-year tenure, guiding the club to the postseason just once — a 107-win season in 2021.
Posey, a seven-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion who played his entire career with the Giants, arrived as the pillar tasked with restoring the culture of one of baseball’s most storied organizations. He replenished a scouting department that had been gutted under his predecessor and rekindled the relationships between former Giants greats and the current roster, an element largely absent during the Zaidi era.
Yet despite the criticism that accompanied Zaidi’s tenure, one league source familiar with the situation offered a blunt assessment: “At least Zaidi had a plan. Posey has none.”
Posey’s communication style has drawn scrutiny. As a player, Posey earned widespread respect by leading through example rather than words.
“Other than that, he was kind of a recluse,” one person said.
But as the head of baseball operations, a role he assumed without any prior front-office experience, leading by example doesn’t suffice. With front offices, coaching staffs and players often disconnected in today’s game, communication has become the great separator.
Why the roster isn’t working
The Giants’ roster construction, shaped by Posey, has left some within the game puzzled. San Francisco’s Oracle Park is one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly ballparks. And yet, Posey has committed the club to power bats.
San Francisco is tied for the 10th-lowest mark in homers (86).
“You can’t build a team on homers in that ballpark,” said one player. “It has to be bat-to-ball skills and speed. Singles turn into doubles in that park. Doubles turn into triples.”
Now, consider that. Then consider the heavy hitters the Giants acquired. None has produced to expectations. All could be considered possible trade candidates ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.
- Adames is hitting .225 with 14 home runs and a .697 OPS while also displaying below-average defense at shortstop, a position at which he has typically excelled throughout his career.
- Chapman, 33, is still sharp with the glove, but his power numbers are way down (.381 slugging percentage with seven homers in 333 plate appearances).
- Devers, meanwhile, has shown flashes of brilliance at the plate this season, but he, too, has performed below his standards, batting .235 with 12 home runs and a .729 OPS.
As such, less than two years into his tenure, Posey can no longer rely on his stature alone. The future of the Giants rests not on what Posey accomplished as a player but on whether his baseball acumen as an executive can pull the organization out of its current mess.
That hasn’t been the case so far.
