Red Sox: 5 DFA candidates to clear a roster spot for Chris Sale
By Sean Penney
Players who could lose their spot when Red Sox activate Chis Sale
Decision time is looming for the Boston Red Sox. Chris Sale is expected to make his long-awaited return to the rotation on Saturday but first, the club must clear a spot on the 40-man roster in order to activate him fro the 60-day injured list. That means someone’s spot is in jeopardy.
The easy way out would be to transfer an injured player from the 10-day to the 60-day IL. The move would still require demoting a player from the active roster but at least they could keep them in the system. Unfortunately, there are no clear options for that route.
Darwinzon Hernandez’s oblique injury appears more serious than initially expected but unless he requires surgery, placing him on the 60-day IL seems unlikely since it essentially rules him out for the remainder of the regular season. Bryan Mata won’t be available anytime soon after undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring but moving him to the 60-day IL would start his service time clock.
The Red Sox will almost certainly be forced to designate someone for assignment to clear a spot for Sale, exposing that player to waivers and potentially losing them to another team.
Fans can rattle off the names of several players who have frustrated them to the point that they are ready to punt them to the moon but the decision of who to remove from the roster isn’t as simple as it seems. Depth is important so you can’t DFA everyone who falls into a slump. No, the Red Sox are not giving up on Bobby Dalbec during a disappointing rookie campaign even if he seemingly strikes out one million times.
Something has to give though. Someone will be giving up their roster spot by the end of the week. Here are five candidates the Red Sox could consider cutting ties with in order to pave the way for the return of their ace.