Every now and then I get to feeling like Popeye the Sailor Man when it comes to certain players and find myself saying, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” I’ve officially reached that point with Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox. And reaching my limit on Devers had nothing to with his game-winning home run Saturday night or his Sunday afternoon grand slam against the Atlanta Braves.

Devers is in the second season of a ten-year contract worth $313.5 million. He has been the regular third baseman for the Red Sox since he came up in July 2017. But when Boston signed free agent Alex Bregman during this past offseason, the Red Sox asked Devers to be the team’s designated hitter. Devers initially balked at becoming a full-time DH before finally agreeing to make the shift.

A couple of weeks ago, the Red Sox asked Devers to play first base–that’s right, they asked a guy making over $31 million a year to play first base. Again, Devers refused. In an interview on May 8, Devers said, “I don’ think, for me personally, it’s the best decision after they asked me to play a different position.”

So, players are supposed to base where they play on how it affects them personally? And, by the way, the Red Sox really didn’t ask Devers to play a different position when they moved him from third base to DH.

It seems to me that the Red Sox had a simple solution to Devers’ response. They should have said, “O.K., Rafael, we understand you don’t want to play first base. But you know what? We have a minor league system full of guys who would kill to do it, so grab a seat on the bench.”

At different stages of his career, Pete Rose was a regular at second base, right field, left field, third base, and first base. You know why Rose continually changed positions? Because once his managers explained that it would be best for the team if he played somewhere else, Rose was all for it. Can anyone for an instant imagine Rose saying a position change wasn’t the best decision for him personally?

But none of that is why I’m fed up with Rafael Devers. I’ve had it with his constant gnawing, with his pie hole open for all to see, on a big wad of what appears to be chewing tobacco and the accompanying stream of nasty-looking brown liquid spewing from his gob.

Major League Baseball’s policy on smokeless tobacco states, “Any player who had no credited major league service at the end of the 2016 season (i.e., a player who made his major league debut during the 2017 season or later) is prohibited from using tobacco products on-field during games in every ballpark.”

According to Baseball Reference, Devers made his debut on July 25, 2017; therefore, he should not be chewing or dipping during games.

Perhaps that disgusting brown lump bulging in Devers’ cheek isn’t chewing tobacco. I must admit it looks more like something he scraped up from a barnyard somewhere. But if part of the reason for prohibiting smokeless tobacco is to eliminate a negative influence on young fans, then a player should not be allowed to simulate chewing tobacco by having a big, brown glob of muck ballooning out his jawline.

Apparently, it is too much to ask a player making in excess of $31 million a year to play first base. But asking him not to chew, or pretend to chew, tobacco, shouldn’t be such a difficult request.