Ex-Red Sox Starter DFA'd Over Weekend Goes Unclaimed, Returns To Triple-A

It's not quite over yet for this former fan favorite in a Red Sox uniform

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Goodbyes are hard, but the Boston Red Sox can hold off on saying one for now.

The Red Sox have had a brutal second half of the season, and it's caused a lot more roster turnover than Boston would have liked. Pitchers have been hurt, hitters have fallen into slumps, and with so many players heading up and down, someone eventually had to be cut loose.

On Sunday, the Red Sox designated first baseman Bobby Dalbec, who had been the team's starting first baseman in 2021, the last time the team made a postseason berth, for assignment.

Dalbec has had almost no success at the big-league level the past three seasons, but he's shown consistent power in the minors and could have been considered a change of scenery candidate by other organizations. At least for now, though he's heading back to the Red sox.

The Red Sox announced on social media Tuesday that Dalbec had cleared waivers and was being outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, where he has spent most of this season. He was DFA'd on to make room on the 40-man roster for starting pitcher Richard Fitts.

Dalbec, 29, has 19 home runs in Triple-A this season, after blasting 33 a season ago. Only a select few Triple-A players have more longballs than Dalbec since the start of 2023, but he's also struck out at an alarming rate, with 301 punchouts in that time frame.

Manager Alex Cora seemed to acknowledge on Sunday that Dalbec's major-league opportunities in Boston had likely run their course.

“If you look at the swing and miss percentages, he’s up there,” Cora said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “He’s still a good player. Good defender. Has some pop. He’s a good athlete. So we’ll what happens in the upcoming days and then we’ll know more.”

Because he did not have the requisite five years of service time, Dalbec was ineligible to elect free agency upon going unclaimed. However, he will be able to do so this winter and sign a minor-league deal with any of the 30 organizations.

Things haven't worked out the way Dalbec would have hoped in Boston, but he'll still have a chance to put up some more numbers in Worcester before hitting the open market. Perhaps a fresh start in 2025 will do him some good.

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