Even Yankees fans were blown away by Red Sox disrespect of Rafael Devers after trade

Once upon a time, New York Yankees fans held out hope that the Alex Bregman signing would ruin the Boston Red Sox's team chemistry so badly that they would eventually have to trade Rafael Devers. But most knew that wasn't going to be the logical outcome. Devers is a certified Yankee Killer. Even if it meant entrenching Devers in the DH role for the next 10 years, he'd earn every dollar of his contract by destroying the Yankees.

But then the unthinkable happened. Devers was traded to the San Francisco Giants out of nowhere on Sunday evening ... just hours after the Red Sox swept the Yankees to take a 5-1 lead in the season series.

Never in a million years did Yankees fans expect that to happen accompanied by the timing of that series sweep. New York shot themselves in the foot all three games to gift the Red Sox new life amid their middling campaign. And Boston just ... made it all go away?

There is no way fans can be convinced this won't drastically affect the Red Sox's team culture. Devers was the franchise player and the last one remaining from the 2018 World Series roster. Not to mention, he had plenty of prime years ahead of him.

To make matters worse, the Sox disrespected him one final time on the way out. Per USA Today, "Devers was informed of the trade and pulled off the team plane." Boston was about to embark on a west coast road trip where ... the Giants are? San Francisco is finishing up a set in LA before they head back home to face the Guardians.

Obviously, Devers remaining on the plane as the news broke is a situation that needed to be avoided, but was this really the way the trade needed to go down? It had to be as the team was boarding their flight after they swept their hated division rival and the vibes were high? Can the Red Sox ever read the room?

Reports suggested the Red Sox weren't shopping Devers, meaning it would seem the talks with the Giants were initiated by San Fran and were private. This couldn't have waited until after the arrival to Seattle? It couldn't have happened before the trip to the airport? Trading Devers after you alienated him is indefensible in itself. Doing it in this manner? No words.

It is an atrocity that this organization has won four World Series since 2004 and has managed to act so callously and petty. They've traded both Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers within the last five years. They've disrespected other franchise heroes like Jon Lester. They've prioritized dishonesty (Alex Cora) and unfamiliarity (Alex Bregman) all in the name of ... what exactly? We have no idea.

Yankees fans are arguably the most critical in sports. They've let Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman hear it for years. But even they know the organization would never act like this. Call it coping, we guess, but Yankees fans have enough championships that they don't need more of them if it means sacrificing their dignity.