Kristian Campbell refutes report Rafael Devers was ‘upset’ about rookie potentially playing 1B for Red Sox

Rafael Devers won t debut at first base vs. Red Sox, Giants manager says
Report: Turncoats within Red Sox organization are plotting against Craig Breslow
Former Red Sox Xander Bogaerts says Rafael Devers trade was tough to see

When the Red Sox traded Rafael Deversto to the San Francisco Giants, the baseball community was taken aback.

It became clear that Boston and Devers were not on the same page behind the scenes, which was the key plot point.

But after the deal, there were also a number of side stories.

One of these was a report about rookie Kristian Campbell and Devers from Yahoo! Sports’ Joon Lee.

Several sources claim that Devers was also offended when rookie Campbell offered to start at first base this season, viewing it as a slight to his own reputation, Lee wrote on Monday.

Campbell, a former Red Sox center field and second baseman, started working out at first base in mid-May. After Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury on May 2, he was shown studying the position during pregame on May 16.

It was unclear at the time whether the team asked Campbell to start learning or if he offered to play first base. At the end of May and the start of June, manager Alex Cora intended to start him at the position for the first time against the Atlanta Braves.

Campbell denied that Friday, despite Lee’s claim that he volunteered himself following Casas’ illness.

@RochieWBZasks The situation surrounding Devers’ first base will be clarified by Kristian Campbell. He claims that the report is untrue. Check out his complete response at pic.twitter.com/WRzNkEWm79.

“That was untrue,” he stated from the dugout of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. On Thursday, Campbell was relegated to Triple-AT. To begin with, Raffy never approached me. I never experienced any issues with it. We were cool all the time. He is an incredibly talented player and a wonderful person. He is a fantastic teammate and a really compassionate individual.

Second, I would state that I never played first base for the Red Sox. We didn’t have a first base at the moment, so they approached me and asked if I could play. Casas fell at that point. Since it would improve the team and I would be open to learning a position, I said I would do it. That’s essentially how everything transpired.

Cora shut down the report on Tuesday as well.

He clarified that Kristian Campbell had not requested to play first base. He was willing to give it a try once we spoke.

“I learned about (the report) for the first time this morning,” Cora added.

In an indication that Boston would use him there when he returns to the major leagues, Campbell started working out at first base in Worcester on Friday.

At first base, Krisitian Campbell is taking grounders in Worcesterpic.twitter.com/lLdSAjdDk2.

Marcelo Mayer, another rookie, may be able to move from third base to second if Campbell does eventually take over at first base. When Alex Bregman returns from the disabled list, it would also enable him to take third place.

In the past, Campbell has stated that he is willing to play wherever the Red Sox ask him to.

“I play whatever makes the team better,” he told Alex Speier of the Boston Globes last month. Since I played second base in college, I’m accustomed to it. However, whatever improves the team at the moment.

Boston.com sports producer Kaley Brown covers the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Patriots, and Boston Red Sox.