The Boston Red Sox made two unexpectedly massive trades on August 3, deadline day. The Sox included three top-five prospects in their package for former Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and Jake Rogers. Former top prospect and "Big Three" member Marcelo Mayer went to the San Francisco Giants for reliever Erik Miller and an outfield prospect.
Rutschman and Rogers took Carlos Narváez and Mayer's roster spots, but the Sox had to open one for Miller. They designated reliever Ryan Watson for assignment to do so, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
Watson came to Boston over the offseason via a trade with the Athletics. The A's selected him from the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 Draft and he's been on the Sox's roster since the trade, as Rule 5 requires. Now that he's been DFA'd, he'll go through waivers, and if no team claims him, the Red Sox will have to offer him back to the Giants for $50 thousand.
Watson posted a 4.53 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 43 strikeouts over 55.2 innings for Boston. His ERA is elevated from some rough early outings — Watson logged a 7.07 ERA over 14 innings in April but he'd leveled out recently to the tune of a 3.91 ERA in his last 15 appearances.
Red Sox designate righty, former Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson for assignment to add Erik Miller to 40-man roster, completing Marcelo Mayer trade
The righty worked in mostly low-leverage situations, in the opposite role the Red Sox will give Miller, who will be a late-inning machine. Now that the Sox have Brayan Bello back in the big league bullpen and the expectation that Tanner Houck will return in a few weeks, Watson is redundant.
Miller has posted a 2.76 ERA, 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings and four saves over 32.2 innings with San Francisco this season. He'll be a deadly setup option for Aroldis Chapman, and maybe even save him some innings down the stretch. He's also worked as an opener before, so Bello may be able to return to the bulk role he plays so well.
Watson probably lasted much longer with the Red Sox than many fans expected after his rocky start with the club. Hopefully, the Giants or another club show interest in him so he can continue the upward trajectory he started in Boston.
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