Red Sox Place Bard, Mortensen and Melancon On Waivers
The Red Sox continued to place players on waivers when three relief pitchers in Daniel Bard, Clay Mortensen and Mark Melancon were put on revocable waivers Friday afternoon.
It is late in the season for trades to be made and any deal that takes place after the rosters expanded on September 1 means that player is not eligible for the postseason. But that doesn’t mean that teams can’t explore the waiver wire and gauge interest from other clubs looking to deal either now or after the season.
Should any of the three be claimed, the Red Sox have one of three options. They can choose to let that player go to the claiming team, pull the player back off waivers, or complete a trade with the claiming team. If any of the three players go unclaimed, which it’s likely they will, the Red Sox can then make a deal with any club that may be interested.
Mortensen has been the most effective of the three pitchers this season despite being up and down between triple-A Pawtucket and Boston on six different occasions. In 19 appearances this year with the Red Sox, the former Rockie has a 2.25 ERA and a 1.125 WHIP through 32.0 innings, all in relief.
Melancon was said to be in line to challenge for the closers job before ballooning in the early goings of the season that earned him a trip to Pawtucket. Since his return to the big club he has pitched consistently better aside from a couple of rough outings where he was tagged for four earned runs.
Bard is the most intriguing story of the three given he was hell bent on converting to the starting rotation after being one of the most effective and dominant set up men in all of baseball for the past two years. He struggled early and often as a starter and eventually became a liability on the mound for both his club and the opposing batters and would eventually spend three months in the minors.
Since his promotion to the big club at the end of August, Bard has appeared in two games and has surrendered a home run in each appearance. The good news is that he has yet to hit a batter.