LOS ANGELES -- A couple of weeks ago, the Giants had one of the worst first base situations in baseball. They woke up Monday morning with a different dilemma: Will they now be able to find enough at-bats for Wilmer Flores, the team RBI leader, and Dominic Smith, who has hit the ground running in orange and black?
Smith has been a revelation at first, but he'll lose some playing time one way or another once Rafael Devers arrives on Tuesday, a debut that will come two weeks after the Giants DFA'd struggling first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. and signed Smith out of the minors.
President of baseball operations Buster Posey and manager Bob Melvin said late Sunday night that they want to talk to Devers before deciding where he will play, but it seems likely he'll be the everyday DH once all the dust settles and everyone gets healthy.
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SIGN UP HERE That would mean more starts at first base for Flores, and possibly a platoon there with Smith. If either loses significant time -- and it should be noted that the sample size with Smith is extremely small -- that will only strengthen what has been a weak bench.
There's a lot to sort out, but on Sunday night, Smith was all smiles. After the game at Dodger Stadium, he said Devers, his teammate in 2024, will be a perfect fit with this group.
"The thing that I admire is he wanted to play every day. The stuff behind the scenes -- he's a grinder, he doesn't want a day off, he wants to play against the elite pitching and he wants to be in the big moments and he wants to win," Smith said. "I know this is a crazy last few hours, but we've got a really, really, really talented ballplayer. Young, right in his prime, I can't wait to see how many balls he hits in the cove."
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Smith has the most experience with Devers, but a lot has changed since they were teammates. Last year, Devers was in the first season of a 10-year contract extension that promised to make him the face of the franchise in Boston. But in the offseason, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, kicking off what turned into months of drama. Devers wasn't thrilled, and he didn't want to move to first base in-season when Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury.
Smith said his own experience with Devers was all positive, noting repeatedly that Devers just wants to play every day.
"He's going to come in and play hard and show the fans what type of player he is," Smith said. "I can't wait to see him do his thing."
The most excited player in the Giants' clubhouse might have been another infielder. Willy Adames has been friends with Devers for about a decade, and they exchanged texts after the deal became official. Adames was so fired up that he forgot to stretch before the finale against the Dodgers.
"You see the numbers every year that he always puts up in Boston," Adames said. "We need someone like that ... when we get Chappy back, it's going to be a problem for pitchers."
Devers has a .905 OPS and 15 homers, and he's 15th among big leaguers with a wRC+ of 148. By that last metric, the Giants -- yes, the San Francisco Giants -- will soon have three of the top 32 hitters in baseball in their lineup. Chapman, who is out another three or four weeks, ranks 30th and Heliot Ramos is 32nd.
The addition should be a game-changing one for the lineup, and it stunned the rest of the industry. Devers, 28, is not the type of player who ever gets traded in June, but the back-and-forth about his position led to a falling out in Boston. Management there apparently had seen and heard enough and was eager to move on, but Posey said Sunday that he did his due diligence and came away convinced that there was simply miscommunication in Boston, and that Devers will be a positive addition to the clubhouse.
Adames gave a full endorsement Sunday night, and he said he texted Devers that everyone in the clubhouse was excited to play with him. Devers responded that he was fired up about the trade.
"He's great, he's great. He's a great guy," Adames said. "Obviously, there has been some miscommunication there. I think that from what I know from him, I know he likes to know things. He wants people to communicate to him and be honest, you know? I feel like here with Buster, that's all we've got.
"Buster is a super honest guy, he's going to be straight up (and Devers) is going to love that. He's going to feel comfortable here. I know that for a fact."