Boston Red Sox: Which players are out of minor league options?
By Sean Penney
It would be surprising if the Red Sox tendered a contract to Abad, who is due to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 million in arbitration.
The Red Sox acquired Abad in a mid-season trade with the Minnesota Twins to fill their need for another lefty reliever, but the move proved to be disastrous. The 30-year old was brutal in 18 appearances, posting a 6.39 ERA and 1.66 WHIP. He walked a staggering eight walks in only 12 2/3 innings and somehow managed to produce a -0.3 WAR in a very limited sample size.
The one redeeming quality Abad showed during his time in Boston was that he was tough on lefties, holding them to a .130 batting average and .461 OPS after joining the Red Sox bullpen. He can still be a useful lefty specialist, but the problem is that manager John Farrell bizarrely refused treat him as one despite his overwhelming splits. Abad actually faced more right-handers than lefties, while being abused by righties for a .357 average and .986 OPS.
Sure, it was a relatively small sample size, but why would you ever use Abad against a right-handed hitter when he had been struggling that much against them? It took Farrell far too long to figure that out and he can’t necessarily be trusted to resist the urge to do it again.
The Red Sox left Abad off the postseason roster and should do the same with their 2017 Opening Day roster. It would be Abad idea to keep him around, so the Red Sox should cut bait – if for no other reason than so I can stop making that joke.
Opening Day chances: Let’s hope not