A Red Sox reunion in San Diego this weekend

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

They played the big brother/little brother thing to perfection for five-and-a-half seasons in the heart of the Boston batting order and on the left side of the infield.

Xander Bogaerts was the teacher and Rafael Devers was the pupil, and they fed off each other while combining to mash opposing pitching staffs.

Friday at Petco Park will represent something very different for both. For the first time, they will play on opposite sides.

“Of course, it’s going to feel a little bit weird because we spent so much time together playing here with the Red Sox and it's going to feel a little bit off, but at the same time, it’s just baseball and we need to adjust,” Devers said. “We’ll see what happens. I'm excited and looking forward to that game on Friday.”

This past winter, both landed contracts they could only dream of when they were learning how to play the game. The only drawback was they couldn’t stay together.

The 30-year-old Bogaerts landed an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres, ending an association with the Red Sox that started when he was signed out of Aruba as a 16-year-old in 2009. A month later, the Red Sox, facing backlash from their passionate fanbase for losing Bogaerts, quelled the masses to some extent by extending the 26-year-old Devers with an 11-year, $331 million pact.

“This is a business and I think everybody makes a decision, and he doesn’t have to look back to see whether he made the right decision or not,” Devers said. “I think he's a great player with a great contract. I'm really happy here with a great contract. I think both of us did very well.”

Though now in different uniforms, they remain the best of friends.

“We talk every day,” Devers said.

The topic is very often baseball.

“We always go back and forth. When he sees something in my game, like, say, these last few games, they’ve been throwing a lot of sliders, he will tell me that. I’ll get back to him and let him know anything that I see in his games,” Devers said. “It’s a good relationship, and we still keep that going. We just try to have fun and not only be about the game. It’s just about everything.”

With Devers as the centerpiece of Boston’s lineup, the Red Sox (24-20) are third in the Majors in runs with 248. The Padres, who had much bigger expectations from the prognosticators than the Red Sox, are 20-24.

The series is important for two teams trying to move up in the standings.

For Devers and Bogaerts, it is also for bragging rights.

There is also likely to be a meal involved. Who is picking up the tab?

“I think he will be the one paying because he’s older than me and he has more money than me, so I think he’ll be picking up the tab,” Devers said while chuckling.