How did we get here with the Rafael Devers situation already?

Though he may be disgruntled at the moment over a possible move from third base to designated hitter, the last thing the Boston Red Sox want to do is trade Devers away. Unfortunately, the internet has seized on one specific part of Devers’ comments, when he was asked by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo if he would consider demanding a trade.

“That’s a tough answer to give. I haven’t given it much thought,” Devers said through an interpreter. “I’ve been here my entire career. I haven’t asked myself that question. I’m open to listening. I’m not close to those conversations.”

Because Devers didn’t immediately say “no,” a trade one season into a 10-year extension is suddenly being treated as a serious possibility.

Devers trade proposals have been all over the internet for the last couple of days. Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer came up with seven team fits and hypothetical trade packages in just one article published Thursday, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Put plainly, this is not what the Red Sox need right now. And while it’s easy to say they’ve gotten themselves into this mess, it’s also facetious to say with authority what their missteps were in getting to this point.

Take this line from Rymer’s article, for example, which makes it seem as though the Red Sox should have known exactly how to navigate the situation:

“In Devers’ defense, he should never have been put in this kind of bind. Ideally, the Red Sox would have approached him about moving off third before signing Bregman.”

Obviously, it would have worked out better in hindsight if Devers had been more mentally prepared for a switch. But what if the Red Sox had never ended up signing Bregman? Then they would have created a stir over nothing. And it’s not as though Devers should have been blindsided, considering the entire offseason discourse centered on how he could be moved at some point,

The moral of the story here is that there was never going to be a “right time” or a “right way” to approach Devers about a position change. What matters, assuming it does end up happening in the near future, is how deftly the Red Sox handle it.

At the end of the day, Devers will be the deciding factor. He can turn this into a drawn-out saga, or he can do his best to adapt to a less-than-ideal situation. Because to almost any neutral observer, it seems clear at this point that the best version of the Red Sox’s future lineup includes Devers at DH.

But in the meantime, the last thing the Red Sox need is the baseball world talking about all the teams that might be a better fit for Devers than the team that paid him over $300 million.