The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Jake Reed off waivers from the Orioles, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. Fellow righty Eduard Bazardo was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Reed, 30, began the year with the Mets before waiver claims took him to the Dodgers, the Orioles and now the Red Sox, making this his fourth organization of 2022. Between last year and this year, he has a 5.74 ERA in his career, though in a fairly small sample of just 26 2/3 innings. That includes a 19.2% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 39.8% ground ball rate.
He’s generally fared better in the minor leagues and that was the case this year. In 23 1/3 innings on various farms, he put up a 3.09 ERA while striking out 25.5% of batters faced and walking just 7.8% of them. He still has one option year in tact, meaning the Sox can shuffle him between the majors and minors for all of next year as long as Reed continues to hang onto a 40-man roster spot.
For Bazardo, 27, this is the second time this year that the Sox have designated him for assignment. After the first instance in April, he cleared waivers and was outrighted, eventually getting selected back to the roster in September. Between last year and this year, he has 19 1/3 innings of MLB experience with a 2.76 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate. In 57 1/3 innings at Triple-A this year, he put up a 3.45 ERA, striking out 23.5% of batters faced, walking 7.5% of them and getting grounders on 42% of balls in play. He has less than a year of MLB service time and a couple of options left, meaning any team that puts in a claim could keep him around as a depth option for the foreseeable future.