Red Sox clear space on the 40-man roster ahead of free agency
Free agency is approaching fast and the Red Sox are preparing themselves to be big-time buyers for the first time in years. Now that the budget is under control and Chaim Bloom can write a few checks this winter, the team had to make room for any new signings that may be coming aboard.
Per Ricky Doyle of NESN.com, the Red Sox made a handful of moves this afternoon that brought the 40-man roster down to 35. There are a handful of players on the IL with most of them having the potential to partake in the 2021 season so they’ll need to be accounted for at some point. With that said, let’s take a look at what the team did today.
Tzu-Wei Lin was outrighted back to Pawtucket, er, Worcester I guess, along with righty Robinson Leyer. Lin is someone that Red Sox Nation is more than familiar with as he’s had numerous runs with the big club, 101 games over the last four seasons to be exact. Over his time in the Majors, Tzu-Wei has played all three outfield positions, second, short, and third base, as well as, DH.
Leyer, on the other hand, made his debut this past season and things didn’t go well. He posted a 21.21. ERA through just 4.2 innings pitched. The 27-year-old will be heading back to Triple-A to continue to work on his stuff. Sadly, the righthander is on the wrong side of 20 and with his awful showing in 2020, I can’t imagine there’s much hope of a return in 2021.
The other big moves that occurred on Monday came in the way of Mike Kickham, Andrew Triggs, and Zack Godley all heading the way of free agency. Much like Leyer, none of the three truly made an impact with the Red Sox this past season and all chose to head to the market after being outrighted.
Kickham hadn’t pitched in the Majors since 2016 and showed every bit of it. In his 14 innings this season he totaled a 7.71 ERA with a 1.857 WHIP. His pitching may not have been there but one thing is for certain with Kickham, he’s got a glorious mane of hair. Hopefully, he can find a team that suits him and allows him to get his career back on track.
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Triggs was signed off waivers from the Giants towards the end of August and was able to get into a handful of games for the Red Sox. He actually pitched well despite his results not being the hottest. He finished the season with an 0-1 record but had a respectable 4.50 ERA and 1.375 WHIP through 8 IP. He’s now 31-years-old and has been through three teams in his short Major League career, I’m not sure where he goes next.
Finally, Godley may be the most interesting of the three new free agents here. Not so much because he performed well and it’s a shock that he was outrighted, but for something else. The right-hander grunts as if he’s throwing the ball 101 MPH, sadly, he was never in the same area code as a pitch that fast. His 0-4 record, 8.16 ERA, and 1.953 WHIP aren’t going to get him much attention this winter.
These aren’t big losses for Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox as the pitchers were all bargain bin signings and I’ll bet good money that we’ll see Lin back in the Majors soon enough. I really don’t know what the future holds for Leyer as we barely saw anything from him and what we did see was awful. Either way, Boston now has some wiggle room not just in the budget but with the roster to bring in a few signings to redirect the team for the 2021 season.