For about a month, Campbell delivered on the hype. He finished April hitting .301/.407/.495 and was a major Rookie of the Year candidate, but then fell off massively. He has hit .159/.243/.222 since the calendar turned to May, with only one base hit in the past week.

While the Red Sox front office kept reiterating that it was a pure baseball trade, the honest truth is that it was a culture trade. They didn’t believe they could win another championship with Devers. They believed he was the wrong guy to be the centerpiece of the franchise. They didn’t think he would become a leader. So, he is gone.