To some degree, other teams could sense it too. And the Braves were one of those teams.
On Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that the Braves, as well as the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, were among the other teams to have confirmed interest in a Devers trade with Boston.
“The trade came out of nowhere and stunned the industry. There was little evidence the Red Sox had been publicly shopping him around to other teams, though industry sources said other clubs had called in recent weeks, believing that the Red Sox would at least listen to offers,” McAdam wrote.
“Among the teams known to have inquired about Devers’ availability were the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, though those teams were not as motivated as the Giants.”
Presumably, for any such deal to work out, the Braves would have had to dump Marcell Ozuna as their designated hitter to clear space for Devers. Austin Riley and Matt Olson aren’t going anywhere at the infield corners, at least as long as Atlanta’s front office doesn’t alienate one of them the way the Red Sox did Devers.
Instead, the Braves will have to make do with what they already had, and they’ve got a big hill to climb if they want to get back into the playoff race. But at least this fan base can breathe a sigh of relief that they aren’t experiencing Boston fans’ plight right now.
