Rafael Devers and the Red Sox agree to an eleven year, $331 million contract:

The agreement, which is expected to be signed Wednesday night and would be the largest ever for a third baseman, comes in the midst of an arduous winter for the Red Sox, who lost longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts to San Diego in free agency nearly three years after trading star right fielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Offering Devers to a deal far longer than Manny Ramirez‘s eight-year pact and more than 50% larger than David Price‘s $217 million contract was enough for the two-time All-Star to accept shepherding the Red Sox out of last place in the American League East and back to contention.

The contract will start in 2023 and extend through the 2033 season, sources said. The one-year, $17.5 million contract Devers signed earlier in the week to avoid arbitration will be superseded by the long-term deal.

ESPN.com

Devers will play 2023 as a 26-year-old, and is a solid 4.5 WAR a season player. The Red Sox get four seasons of Devers prime in the deal, and over eleven seasons I expect he’ll collect 41.5 WAR. That means the Red Sox are paying about $7.5 million per potential WAR. He might have done a bit better if he waited a year, but not a lot better.

The Red Sox lock up a great player for a long time, and Devers gets pretty close to free-agent money without the work. Both sides did extremely well.