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On Sunday, the Red Sox made waves after trading Rafael Devers to the Giants to seemingly end the drama stemming from the team’s decision to ask him to switch positions. However, some fans seem to think the move has something to do with another transaction that led to Liverpool dropping a ton of cash to add a notable name of its own.
In 2001, investors including John Henry and Tom Werner formed what was initially dubbed “New England Sports Ventures” a year before the conglomerate purchased the Boston Red Sox for $660 million.
That turned out to be a pretty good move, as Forbes currently estimates the franchise is the third-most valuable team in Major League Baseball at $4.8 billion, and the collective that was rebranded as “Fenway Sports Group” in 2011 has leveraged its holdings to expand a portfolio that includes the Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool.
Last week, Liverpool agreed to pay close to $160 million in transfer fees to acquire 22-year-old midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in one of the richest deals in the history of soccer—one that led to The Athletic examining how the club could even afford to stomach that incredibly hefty sum in he first place.
That piece was published a day before the Red Sox parted ways with Rafael Devers, the third baseman who signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract with the team prior to the start of the season in 2023.
However, things took an interesting turn before the current campaign got underway, as Devers made it very clear he had no interest in moving positions after fellow third baseman Alex Bregman was added to the roster in free agency.
He ultimately agreed to step into the role of designated hitter but refused to head to first base after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury in May, and it was pretty obvious all was not well in the clubhouse.
On Sunday, Devers was shipped off to the Giants in a deal that was seemingly designed to free up some money based on what Boston got in return (a couple of pitchers and two prospects who collectively make much less than what the disgruntled star was getting paid).
More than a few Red Sox fans pointed out the conspicuous timing of the trade, including Bill Simmons, who posted a screenshot of the aforementioned article in The Athletic while making it pretty clear he thinks the two developments are inextricably connected.
It’s a bit hard to imagine that’s actually the case. The fact that Liverpool is a largely sulf-sustaining entity that FSG has declined to go out of its way to prop up has been a sore point among its fans since FSG acquired it in 2010, and the Red Sox can easily argue they’d reached the point of no return with Devers and decided to shed his salary to give them more flexibility moving forward.
With that said, the truth has rarely gotten in the way of a good conspiracy theory.