Red Sox Have Easy Replacement for Released Danny Coulombe

The Boston Red Sox opted to officially release Danny Coulombe.

Apr 11, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Danny Coulombe (67) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Boston Red Sox are officially out of the Danny Coulombe business.

On July 11, the Red Sox designated the veteran lefty for assignment after an up-and-down run with the organization. He pitched in 29 games total and logged a 4.50 ERA in 22 innings of work while wearing a Red Sox uniform. Coulombe went to waivers after being designated for assignment, but he was not claimed by an opposing team.

Rather than attempting to outright him, Boston opted to release the 12-year veteran on Saturday, per his official MLB.com profile.

The Red Sox Released Danny Coulombe

Jul 11, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Danny Coulombe (67) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Coulombe released, he now heads to free agency and will have the chance to sign with any club, even the Red Sox if the two sides see fit. Boston recently cut ties with Tommy Kahnle only for him to return to the club on a minor league deal.

Now, that doesn't necessarily seem likely at this point, but it is a possibility.

When it comes to the Red Sox's bullpen, and specifically the lefties in it without Coulombe, they have Aroldis Chapman, Jovani Morán, and Eduardo Rivera. Alec Gamboa was promoted for the Tampa Bay Rays doubleheader and then optioned back down. Arguably, it wouldn't hurt to bring up another lefty to replace Coulombe and the Red Sox have an obvious option down in Triple-A right now: Tyler Samaniego.

Arguably, there is no reason why Samaniego should be down in the minors in the first place. Samaniego has pitched in 20 games for the Red Sox in the majors this season as a rookie and has a 2.66 ERA to show for it across 20 1/3 innings pitched. Somehow, he hasn't pitched in a game in the majors since June 2, though. Now, of course, the Red Sox are the hottest team in the league right now, so they do deserve the benefit of the doubt right now. The decisions Boston has been making have been working.

But with Coulombe officially out of the organization, the next step should be simply promoting Samaniego and going from there. His numbers in Triple-A aren't great with a 5.60 ERA in 13 appearances, but he showed in the big leagues what he can do.

Things unfortunately didn't work out between the Red Sox and Coulombe. But now he has a chance to sign elsewhere and the Red Sox will be just fine in the long run.