BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — When Billy Limperis found out the Red Sox were trading Rafael Devers, he had the same reaction as many Sox fans.
"I was just numb," he said. "I called my dad, and he was stunned. I called my girlfriend, and she was like 'I can't believe they just did that'. This ruined Father's Day."
The Red Sox insisted that the trade, which saw them clear out all of the remaining $250 million left on Devers' deal, was purely a baseball move. However, the trade just happened to coincide with a separate big-money move by a different team owned by Fenway Sports Group—Liverpool FC of the English Premier League.
Liverpool won the Premier League this past spring for the second time in five years, and to bolster their title defense for next season, the club agreed to a Premier League record transfer for a flashy German midfielder named Florian Wirtz. The deal was worth a reported $135 million, which could rise up over $170 million with add-ons.
The timing of the deal and trade raised eyebrows for many Red Sox, who were frustrated and looking to find someone to blame for the trade. Many started to ask, did FSG sign off on the Devers trade to fund the Wirtz signing? There is no evidence of this, but that didn't stop fans of both the Red Sox and Liverpool from finding themselves stuck in a tough spot.
Liam Fennessy hosts the seventh-most popular Red Sox podcast, called "Pod On Landsdowne", and is a Liverpool fan. He said Red Sox fans and Liverpool fans have been going back and forth like this ever since FSG bought Liverpool back in 2010.
"I always think of it as like the first child being scorned," he said. "Now there's a second child, and you want to be the favorite, but obviously Liverpool are their own massive brand. I immediately knew it was going to blow up and be on sports talk radio and be a fiery talking point on social media."
Both Fennessy and Limperis said they found themselves having to explain to fellow Red Sox fans how the financial system for signing players works in England and how, despite being owned by the same company, the Sox and Liverpool are their own separate entities. As Liverpool fans they wanted to enjoy what was a huge signing for the defending champs, but being lifelong Red Sox fans, the trade still stung.
"It's just kind of like the cherry on top of the last five years of the Red Sox where they finally have some momentum going and they just shoot themselves in the foot," Limperis said. "It's just so frustrating, and I understand that fan sentiment so much so I can't even be mad at either side so I get it."
But the deal is done. Devers is a Giant. Wirtz is a Red. However, now that the dust has settled, would either of them give up signing Wirtz if it meant keeping Devers? They both had the same answer.
"I think I would have rather kept Devers," Fennessy said after pausing to think.
"It's really tough," Limperis said. "But I would probably pick Devers."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.