Ex-Red Sox Hurler Signs With American League Foe As Opening Day Approaches
The Boston Red Sox completely revamped their bullpen this offseason, which placed some of last year's talent in limbo, particularly those toward the bottom of the roster.
One of the players was Jeurys Familia, who has been far from a hot commodity this offseason but has found a new home.
Familia has agreed to a major-league deal with the Oakland Athletics on Sunday according to the Major League Baseball transaction wire.
The 33-year-old flamethrower went 1-2 with a 6.10 ERA, 8-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a .263 batting average against and 1.65 WHIP across 10 1/3 innings for the Red Sox last season.
After spending the last couple of months with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Familia was released Friday and will remain on the West Coast.
Familia will not go down as a well-known Red Sox reliever. In fact, he was part of the problem that forced Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to overhaul the bullpen. In that sense, Familia was a helpful contributor to setting up the 2023 roster for more success than its predecessor.
Boston will have six games against the Athletics in July. Assuming Familia can stick on the big-league roster, I'd imagine the Red Sox would welcome the opportunity to step in the box against the once-acclaimed hurler who has struggled to find any consistency over the last few seasons.
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