Sen. Adam Schiff on Sunday called the handcuffing of fellow California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla “atrocious” after Padilla was forcibly removed for interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles.
“To see him mistreated that way and tackled to the ground and shackled that way and in the midst of what we’re seeing more broadly in Los Angeles is just atrocious,” Schiff told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press.” “And I think all of us that work with him reacted with that kind of revulsion.”
Schiff defended Padilla, saying he had “every right” to attend Noem’s press conference and ask a question. He also pointed out that Padilla had been escorted into the room and had identified himself before the incident.
“He tried to ask the secretary a question, a secretary who clearly doesn’t want to answer questions about the lawless acts of the Department of Homeland Security that we are seeing in Los Angeles,” Schiff said. “So he had every right to do so. That’s part of his oversight responsibilities.”
“For those of us that know Alex, and you would be hard pressed to find a more beloved senator on either side of the aisle, respected by members on both sides of the aisle, you know, for his intellect, for his demeanor. This is not some rabble-rouser,” Schiff added.
Video on Thursday shows Padilla being forced to the ground and then handcuffed after interrupting Noem’s press conference, with the lawmaker identifying himself by name and title and saying he wished to ask a question.
Trump administration officials said Secret Service agents responded as trained — removing an unknown figure as he pushed his way toward the front of a press conference.
In a Thursday post on the social platform X, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem.”
Padilla showed up to the presser after days of protests sparked by immigration raids in the Los Angeles area. The Trump administration deployed the Marines and the National Guard to LA last week, arguing troops are needed to safeguard personnel and buildings amid the demonstrations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass and other Democrats have slammed the move.
A federal appeals court panel on Thursday temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was illegal, allowing troops to continue helping with immigration raids in the city. The ruling came only hours after U.S District Judge Charles Breyer ordered Trump to return control of the troops to Newsom by Friday afternoon.
“Finally, we’ve got the ones that I find as most controversial, quantum computer plays. These stocks are insanely popular among young people, trading tens of millions of shares today. IONQ, D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, Quantum Computing, they’re incredibly popular. IONQ traded 30 million shares today, D-Wave Quantum traded 60 million shares today, Rigetti 61 million shares, Quantum Computing, 65 million shares. That is insane. Not the volume, but the fact that there’s so much demand for these stocks, yet most of the media and the financial industry pretend they don’t exist.
Jim Cramer Notes IONQ is Loved by Young Investors
A quantum computer on a countertop in an engineering laboratory with a technician at work.
IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) builds quantum computing systems and provides access to them through major cloud platforms and its own services. The company also develops quantum-safe networking solutions, specialized hardware, and offers support and consulting for quantum algorithm development.
While we acknowledge the potential of IONQ as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
DNA testing service 23andMe has undergone serious upheaval in recent months, creating concerns for the 15 million customers who entrusted the company with their personal biological information. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, the company became the center of a bidding war that ended Friday when co-founder Anne Wojcicki said she’d successfully reacquired control through her nonprofit TTAM Research Institute for $305 million.
The bankruptcy proceedings had sent shockwaves through the genetic testing industry and among privacy advocates, with security experts and lawmakers urging customers to take immediate action to safeguard their data. The company’s interim CEO revealed this week that 1.9 million people, around 15% of 23andMe’s customer base, have already requested their genetic data be deleted from the company’s servers.
The situation became even more complex last week after more than two dozen states filed lawsuits challenging the sale of customers’ private data, arguing that 23andMe must obtain explicit consent before transferring or selling personal information to any new entity.
While the company’s policies mean you cannot delete all traces of your genetic data — particularly information that may have already been shared with research partners or stored in backup systems — if you’re one of the 15 million people who shared their DNA with 23andMe, there are still meaningful steps you can take to protect yourself and minimize your exposure.
How to delete your 23andMe data
To delete your data from 23andMe, you need to log in to your account and then follow these steps:
Navigate to the Settings section of your profile.
Scroll down to the selection labeled 23andMe Data.
Click the View option and scroll to the Delete Data section.
Select the Permanently Delete Data button.
You will then receive an email from 23andMe with a link that will allow you to confirm your deletion request.
You can choose to download a copy of your data before deleting it.
There is an important caveat, as 23andMe’s privacy policy states that the company and its labs “will retain your Genetic Information, date of birth, and sex as required for compliance with applicable legal obligations.”
The policy continues: “23andMe will also retain limited information related to your account and data deletion request, including but not limited to, your email address, account deletion request identifier, communications related to inquiries or complaints and legal agreements for a limited period of time as required by law, contractual obligations, and/or as necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims and for audit and compliance purposes.”
This essentially means that 23andMe may keep some of your information for an unspecified amount of time.
How to destroy your 23andMe test sample and revoke permission for your data to be used for research
If you previously opted to have your saliva sample and DNA stored by 23andMe, you can change this setting.
To revoke your permission, go into your 23andMe account settings page and then navigate to Preferences.
In addition, if you previously agreed to 23andMe and third-party researchers using your genetic data and sample for research, you can withdraw consent from the Research and Product Consents section in your account settings.
While you can reverse that consent, there’s no way for you to delete that information.
Check in with your family members
Once you have requested the deletion of your data, it’s important to check in with your family members and encourage them to do the same because it’s not just their DNA that’s at risk of sale — it also affects people they are related to.
And while you’re at it, it’s worth checking in with your friends to ensure that all of your loved ones are taking steps to protect their data.
This story originally published on March 25 and was updated June 11 with new information.
Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.
The NBA world has been waiting for a blockbuster trade to materialize for the past several weeks.
There were many reasons why this trade on Father’s Day morning was such a big surprise, but the biggest one was that it wasn’t a deal involving Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant.
But that was far from the only shock felt around the NBA. Here’s how league insiders are reacting to this early, fascinating deal, one that could have massive ripple effects.
Why did Orlando make this trade?
It had become one of the best trivia questions in NBA circles: Who is the last player the Magic actively acquired in a trade?
Before Sunday, the answer was former No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz, whom Orlando landed at the 2019 trade deadline in a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers for reserve forward Jonathon Simmons and a protected first-round pick (that eventually became Tyrese Maxey).
But after years of inactivity, Orlando emphatically pushed in its chips, clearly viewing Bane as the missing player who can lift the franchise to the top of the East again. It has been 15 years since the Magic have won a playoff series. In talking with sources around the league, opinions were mixed on whether adding Bane will change that.
Some regard Bane as a perfect fit — an off guard who can defend and is a career 41% 3-point shooter. The Magic shot 31.7% from deep this season, by far the worst clip in the NBA.
“He’ll be a good fit,” one assistant coach told ESPN. “There’s not a lot of guys that you would want to grab as your third option that can do it to the level that he can do it.”
Others questioned the hefty price, both in terms of the contract (Bane is owed $163 million over the next four years) and the draft capital to acquire him.
“[The Grizzlies] did that extension before the new second apron rules kicked in and they were looking at that deal and liking it less,” one scout said. “Really good guy, good player, but [I] never thought of him as a max guy.”
Several teams inquired about Bane, sources said, but none as aggressively as Orlando.
It’s easy to see why. Bane should slot in perfectly in the backcourt alongside Jalen Suggs, one of the best defenders in the league, and adds shooting and shot creation to a roster, featuring Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, that desperately needs both.
Why did Memphis?
Grizzlies general manager Zack Kleiman was blunt six weeks ago when he addressed his team’s contending window after Memphis was swept out of the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I don’t think we can look back at this series and say, ‘Oh we’re close,'” Kleiman told reporters in Memphis during his end-of-season news conference.
“We’re not.”
By trading Bane, long part of the core in Memphis with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Kleiman is acting on those words.
But more star trades are not expected. Sources told ESPN that the Grizzlies are not looking to deal either of their two remaining franchise cornerstones. The team has spent the past several months clearing salary cap space to complete a renegotiation and extension of Jackson’s contract this offseason, preventing him from hitting free agency in 2026. The belief is that an extension will get done, sources said. But the Bane trade gives Memphis an avenue to give Jackson even more on that deal and lock him in long term.
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What does Desmond Bane trade mean for Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr.?
Brian Windhorst questions if the Grizzlies are shifting direction with the Desmond Bane trade that could mark the start of a franchise reset.
And Memphis handing the team to coach Tuomas Iisalo — who wants to play a fast-paced system with tons of pick-and-roll and 3-point shooting — is designed to maximize what Morant can do.
The Grizzlies believe Jaylen Wells, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting this past season as a second-round pick, can be a long-term starter on the wing, sources said. And among the haul of picks they received in the trade, the most attractive was next year’s lesser of Phoenix and Washington — a pick that’s very likely to be a lottery pick, and could easily wind up inside the top 10, or better.
Now, the Grizzlies believe they can go in a variety of directions as they look to improve and continue to try to contend in the Western Conference. But that required taking an immediate step back to hopefully take two — or more — steps forward in the future.
How does this affect the Kevin Durant trade saga?
In speaking with several sources Sunday in the wake of the Bane deal, the universal belief is that any draft packages going to Phoenix in a Durant deal likely won’t surpass the haul of draft picks coming to Memphis for Bane, who hasn’t yet made an All-Star team.
“Everyone has to throw their prior precedents and baselines out,” said one executive, who referred to not only the Bane trade but the five first-rounders the New York Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges last year as having nothing to do with how to properly value Durant.
“Those deals don’t mean Durant is worth 12 firsts now,” they said.
But what, exactly, is Durant worth? It’s the question people around the league continue to ask as the saga continues.
As ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Saturday night, Durant is willing to sign a contract extension with three teams: the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. But sources around the league are still talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves as a potential landing spot for Durant.
What does seem clear is that the package isn’t going to be anywhere near the haul that the Brooklyn Nets received for Durant 2½ years ago, a deal consummated within the first 24 hours owner Mat Ishbia took control of the Suns. How Ishbia will react to that will be telling, and could determine how this process plays out.
Orlando sees an opportunity in a new conference hierarchy. How does this deal affect the rest of the East?
This trade is just the latest ripple from the devastating Achilles tendon tear sustained by Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks.
There is every reason to hope and believe Tatum will return to full strength after the injury. The doctor who performed the surgery — Martin O’Malley from New York’s renowned Hospital for Special Surgery — also repaired Durant’s Achilles tear in 2019. But, in the short term, it all but certainly has removed Boston as the dominant force in the East for the 2025-26 season, after being in that position for most of the past several years.
That has created an opening for teams to strike — and Orlando was the first one.
“For them, they got to give themselves a chance,” one executive said. “They have gone to the playoffs two years in a row and had a first-round exit, and they look around and they’ve got a young group that’s trying to figure out how to take the next step.
“In theory, in the middle of the year you would have thought Indiana was in their group, too, in that you wouldn’t have thought they could get over the top and the two best teams were clearly Cleveland and Boston.
“But with Boston not being there next year, it’s going to be fascinating to see how much of a win-now approach is going to take place because every team is going to think they can do what Indiana just did.”
This move could cause more teams to expedite their plans this summer. We already saw the Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau after losing in the conference finals. The Celtics have plenty of uncertainty about their roster. The Pistons, after an encouraging playoff breakthrough, could create cap space to pursue an impact player.
“It’s become way more open-ended, and owners are going to see it that way,” the executive said. “But the Magic could still lose in the first round. So can the Knicks. So can all of these teams.”
Why the draft could be the most important day of the offseason
One of the four picks coming to Memphis in the Bane trade was No. 16 in this month’s NBA draft. With a Durant trade likely to happen before this year’s draft, sources said, expect some 2025 draft capital to be included.
In a summer in which there is basically no cap space for teams — the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, are the only one projected to have meaningful space with which to work. With a limited free agent class on top of it, several sources said the busiest day of the offseason is going to be June 25, the first round of the draft.
It’s the one date on the calendar when all of these teams have the ability to maneuver their rosters and improve — and possibly for the only time, given the constraints on the market in the weeks afterward. Between teams trying to shed money or just reshuffle their rosters after an eventful few months around the league, there’s no shortage of teams searching for a splash. “It just feels like there is going to be more activity than even normally is,” an executive said.
Coupled with a draft featuring two clear prospects at the top — Cooper Flagg at No. 1 and Dylan Harper at No. 2 — and a deep pool of strong prospects, it should make for a wildly entertaining night inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Janelle Brown Questioned How Kody Brown Handled the Family Money
Griping about the family’s inability to pay off Coyote Pass, Janelle said Kody claimed to have “all these other debts.” And, yet, she’s watched him snap up other assets like trailers and home décor. “I see all the art on their walls,” she said of Robyn and Kody’s home. “I see all these things. And that’s fine, I have money and I’ve spent it on things, too.” (For his part Kody said much of his cash went to buying cars—”Basically had a fleet”—and insurance for the kids.)
And while Janelle acknowledged she wasn’t sure how Kody and Robyn handled their finances, “I used to always be surprised at how nice her backyard was. It was completely finished. And there was always, like, stuff at her house. And I was like, ‘Wow. Huh.'”
Bottom line, she said, “He doesn’t prioritize what I need or what I want.” And that issue eventually wore her down. “I think after a while, I began to see it, and my kids were getting very angry about it, like my adult children. Like, ‘What the hell, Mom?'”
Robyn’s take, however, was that she was very careful with her budget after her first marriage fell apart.
“I used to be not so great with money,” she shared during the Sept. 22 episode. “When I was young, I had hard knocks, and then I learned during my divorce really how to budget myself very, very well.” As for her fellow sister wives, she said, “You just must have had a different priority of where your money was going to go than I did, that’s all.”
Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at potential rebels in the Labour Party over his plans to cut the benefits bill, insisting “we have got to get the reforms through.”
MPs will vote in the coming weeks on a package of measures aiming to cut the benefits bill by £5bn by 2030.
The Welfare Reform Bill will include proposals to make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim Personal Independence Payment, or PIP, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Speaking to reporters, the prime minister said: “We have got to get the reforms through, and I have been clear about that from start to finish.
“The system is not working. It’s not working for those that need support, it’s not working for taxpayers.
“Everybody agrees it needs reform, we have got to reform it and that is what we intend to do.”
Dozens of Labour MPs have expressed concerns about the plans to cut Pip payments and the sickness-related element of Universal Credit.
Many have said they are prepared to vote against the primary legislation the government needs to pass to make the changes to welfare payments.
The welfare package as a whole could push an extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty, according to the government’s impact assessment.
Asked if there could be further concessions, Sir Keir said he was determined to press ahead with the changes:
“The principles remain the same, those who can work should work.
“Those who need support in to work should have that support in to work which I don’t think they are getting at the moment.
“Those who are never going to be able to work should be properly supported and protected. And that includes not being reassessed and reassessed.
“So they are the principles, we need to do reform and we will be getting on with that reform when the Bill comes.”
President Trump on Sunday night directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand deportation efforts in cities run by Democrats following protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies.
The president called on ICE “to do all in their power” to help reach the administration’s mass deportation goals while singling out Los Angeles, Chicago and New York for ramped-up enforcement efforts.
White House aide Stephen Miller said last month that the administration’s goals were a minimum of 3,000 ICE arrests a day.
“Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History. Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” the president added.
Trump called on federal agents to “expand efforts” to detain and deport undocumented immigrants in the country’s most populous cities, “where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”
“These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens,” the president charged. “These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it!”
Trump asserted that Democrats believe in “open borders” and that ICE efforts should be focused on blue cities.
“There is something wrong with them. That is why they believe in Open Borders, Transgender for Everybody, and Men playing in Women’s Sports — And that is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role. You don’t hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!” Trump said.
The president said he has directed his “entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia.”
The 407-word statement was signed “DJT.”
Trump’s post marks a broad escalation in his administration’s push to ramp up ICE arrests, moves that have sparked wide pushback from Democrats.
Last week the president deployed military troops to Los Angeles to mitigate protests in the city against ICE raids, leading to ongoing clashes and pushback from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Mayor Karen Bass (D) and other Democrats.
And, late Thursday, a federal appeals court panel temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was illegal, allowing troops to continue helping with immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) is one of the 16 stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. A caller asked if they should consider buying LMB shares on any dips, and Cramer replied:
“This one is so high, it’s got such a high price-to-earnings multiple. I cannot recommend it. I don’t care how, it’s like Ferguson, I guess, and people just say, you know what, I’m just going to be in there, I don’t care, and I don’t know why. I don’t want you to be in there. Too high versus, say, Home Depot, which is just really inexpensive.”
Jim Cramer on Limbach: “I Cannot Recommend It”
An engineer studying the blueprints of a large mechanical construction near a busy city skyline.
Limbach Holdings (NASDAQ:LMB) provides specialized solutions for complex building systems, working directly with owners and facility managers to maintain and improve essential mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure. Greystone Capital Management stated the following regarding Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMB) was the largest contributor to performance during 2024, for good reason. Their journey from here to there has been executed flawlessly (which, as an investor, I have the luxury of proclaiming), with earnings power increasing at a tremendous rate during the past 24 months. On the back of low single digit revenue growth aided by their ODR segment growing 20%, gross margins have expanded nearly 1000bps, EBITDA margins have expanded 500bps, and adjusted EBITDA has more than doubled. This has translated nicely into free cash flow, which Limbach has used to acquire additional service businesses for 4-5x EBITDA.
While we acknowledge the potential of LMB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora
India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029.
This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians(NRIs), ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home.
Aspora (formerly Vance) is trying to build a verticalized financial experience for the Indian diaspora by keeping convenience at the center. While a lot of financial products are in its future roadmap, the company currently focuses largely on remittances.
“While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said.
In the last year, the company has grown the volume of remittances by 6x — from $400 million to $2 billion in yearly volume processed.
With this growth, the company has attracted a lot of investor interest. It raised $35 million in Series A funding last December — which was previously unreported — led by Sequoia with participation from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. The round pegged the company’s valuation at $150 million. In the four months following, the company tripled its transaction volume, prompting investors to put in more money.
The company announced today it has raised $50 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator also contributing to the round. The startup said this round values the company at $500 million. The startup has raised over $99 million in funding to date.
After pivoting from being Pipe.com for India, the company started by offering remittance for NRIs in the U.K. in 2023 and has expanded its presence in other markets, including Europe and the United Arab Emirates. It charges a flat fee for money transfer and offers a competitive rate. Now it also allows customers to invest in mutual funds in India. The startup markets its exchange rates as “Google rate” as customers often search for currency conversion rates, even though they may not reflect live rates.
The startup is also set to launch in the U.S., one of the biggest remittance corridors to India, next month. Plus, it plans to open up shop in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the fourth quarter of this year.
Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs.
“We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,” he told TechCrunch.
He added that a large chunk of money that NRIs send home is for wealth creation rather than family sustenance. The startup said that 80% of its users are sending money to their own accounts back home.
In the next few months, the company is launching a few products to offer more services. This month, it plans to launch a bill payment platform to let users pay for services like rent and utilities. Next month, it plans to launch fixed deposit accounts for non-resident Indians that allow them to park money in foreign currency. By the end of the year, it plans to launch a full-stack banking account for NRIs that typically takes days for users to open. While these accounts can help the diaspora maintain their tax status in India, a lot of people use a family member’s account because of the cumbersome process, and Aspora wants to simplify this.
Apart from banking, the company also plans to launch a product that would help NRIs take care of their parents back home by offering regular medical checkups, emergency care coverage, and concierge services for other assistance.
Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru is confident that Aspora’s execution speed and verticalized solution will give it an edge.
“Speed of execution, for me, is one of the main indicators in the early days of the future success of a company,” she told TechCrunch over a call. “Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.”
It’s rare we get an out-of-the-blue trade featuring one of the game’s best hitters, and it’s even more rare when it happens in the middle of June involving teams in playoff contention. Given everything Devers and the Red Sox have battled throughout this season — his initial anger at being moved off third base when the team signed Alex Bregman and later his refusal to move to first base when Triston Casas went down because of an injury — maybe it’s not as surprising as it first appears.
The Red Sox aren’t immune to controversial moves, having traded Mookie Betts in 2020, but this one certainly will be a fun one to argue about on social media, with enough hot takes to burn off the late summer fog in San Francisco.
Let’s grade it.
San Francisco Giants: For the Giants and new top executive Buster Posey, the impact of this trade is obvious: They get their best hitter since Posey himself was at his peak and certainly their best power hitter since Barry Bonds, the last Giants player to hit 30 home runs (2004), a figure Devers has reached three times. After beginning the season with five hitless games, Devers is now hitting .272/.401/.504 after hitting his 15th home run in Boston’s 2-0 win on Sunday over the New York Yankees. He has seen a huge spike in his walk rate, boosting his OBP well above his career mark of .349. If that walk rate holds (he’s second to Juan Soto in walks drawn), it raises Devers’ offensive game to a new level.
Of course, Devers has his issues. The Red Sox moved him off third base for good reason. The Giants have Gold Glover Matt Chapman there, so a return to third remains out of the equation for Devers. Giants first basemen have been among the worst in the majors, ranking 26th in OPS, with Dominic Smith getting most of the action lately after LaMonte Wade Jr. was traded to the Angels. But the most likely scenario is Devers remaining at DH with Wilmer Flores shifting over to share first.
The other issue is Devers’ contract: He’s 28 years old and signed through 2033, making this the second year of a 10-year deal that will run through his age-36 season. That puts some degree of risk on his long-term value, but Devers has been a consistent hitter throughout his career — his top 10 similarity scores on Baseball-Reference include three Hall of Famers in Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Ron Santo, plus a couple of likely future Hall of Famers in Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Granted, those guys were or are much superior defenders, but Devers compares to them as a hitter.
He does move from Fenway to Oracle Park — and San Francisco’s ballpark is part of the reason no Giants player has hit 30 home runs since Bonds. Devers’ career splits are interesting: He has hit for a higher average at home (.292 versus .267) but with more home runs on the road (120 to 95). He’s going to lose some of those cheap doubles he hit off the Green Monster, so maybe his average dips a little, but I think his power will translate just fine.
Bottom line: The Giants have been looking for that big middle-of-the-order hitter for years, from Bryce Harper to Aaron Judge to Shohei Ohtani. Now they have one and didn’t surrender any of the pitchers on a staff that ranks third in the majors in ERA. The National League West race — and the Giants were just a game back of the Dodgers at trade time — just got a lot more interesting.
Grade: A-
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have been hard to understand for years now, since the Betts trade, operating more like a mid-major market than the team that had the highest payroll in the majors in 2018 and 2019. Under that lens, this trade is not only the dealing of a disgruntled star with a ruptured relationship with the organization, but coincidentally enough, moving on from a player with a huge salary.
The timing will also create minor shockwaves: The Red Sox just swept the Yankees and have won seven of their past eight games, getting back into the playoff picture after a disappointing first two months. The spin from Boston will be interesting, focusing on Devers not stepping up and putting the team first. And that’s not an inaccurate spin, even if the Red Sox have clearly mishandled this situation from the start.
They also have all of their top prospects playing for the big league team now, from recent call-up Roman Anthony to Marcelo Mayer to Kristian Campbell. Manager Alex Cora has been platooning Anthony and Mayer, which is silly; they need to be playing every day, even if they get exposed a bit against left-handers. Trading Devers opens up at-bats for everyone and helps clear the outfield logjam of Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder — but they’re not going to be able to replace Devers’ production just yet.
Harrison is a talented left-hander, once a top pitching prospect in the minors who hasn’t quite put it all together in the majors — but he’s also still only 23 years old. He had a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts as a rookie last season and has a 4.56 ERA in 23⅔ innings so far in 2025. Boston has optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester, but with Tanner Houck injured and Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito both fighting ERAs on the wrong side of 5.00, Harrison could be a potential rotation option later in the season. As for Hicks, the Giants tried the hard-throwing right-hander as a starter, but it never really worked, so he’ll be in the bullpen.
Tibbs was the Giants’ first-round pick last June out of Florida State, an outfielder hitting .245/.377/.480 in High-A. He might be something, although let’s see what happens when he’s bumped up to Double-A.
Given Harrison’s potential upside, it’s not fair to completely slam the Red Sox. Devers has a big contract, but it doesn’t feel out of line with some other recent deals — such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500 million contract. Maybe the Red Sox will take those savings and go after some more pitching help, either at the trade deadline or in the offseason.
Still, when you’re looking to trade a player because of a broken relationship, it’s hard to get fair value in return — and it feels as if the Red Sox came up short here. Maybe this will prove to be the best move for the organization in the long run, but their playoff hopes for 2025 take a hit.
