It seems a bit strange to be talking about legacies for two guys that are 24 and 26 years old, respectively, but then again, they're no ordinary 24 and 26 year old's.

In signing his 11 year/$331 million extension on Wednesday, Rafael Devers signed up to be a member of the Red Sox until at least the age of 36. As Alex Speier of The Boston Globe noted, if Devers plays out the entirety of the deal, he'll have spent 20 years in the Sox organization by the time of its completion.

He would also become the 5th Red Sox ever (joining Yaz, Williams, Evans and Wakefield) to play 17 MLB seasons for the Sox.

Through his age 25 season, Devers has already played in 689 games, slugged 139 homers and won a World Series ring. It's not unfair to say his two best seasons to date, .311/32/115 in 2019 and .279/38/113 in '21, should serve as the parameters for what to expect on a yearly basis over the life of (most of) the 11 year deal.

Just take his 162 game average - .283/33/107, 179 hits, 103 runs and 44 doubles. Chances are, most years his numbers will exceed those in some capacity, but if you multiply those numbers times 11, here's what Devers' career stats look like by the time he's 36...

2,731 hits, 502 home runs, 1,632 RBI, 1,572 runs and 671 doubles. Not too shabby. Especially when you consider there's likely a handful of All-Star appearances and Silver Sluggers mixed in. And if recent math means anything, another ring or two.

As for the 24-year-old, Jayson Tatum is already on the legacy trail. Having established himself as one of the top 3-5 players in the game at the moment, Tatum's best path to NBA immortality is by being a Celtic lifer.

I'm not just saying that as a fan of the team. Think about it. He has the chance to be as good, possibly even better, than anyone to ever play for one of the league's two most historic franchises. That means something.

He'll never win as many rings as Bill Russell, but if Tatum stays in Boston for the long haul, he'll own most every team record as well as being one of the longest tenured players in team history. Plus, chances are he'll have guided the team to at least a couple championships if we're talking about another decade of basketball at minimum.

If both players are Bostonians for their careers, which young star will go down as the bigger team legend?

 

More From 92.9 The Ticket