The Red Sox ran out of runway at the roster deadline and ended up taking a different route than expected.
Boston had until 5 p.m. on November 2 to deal with the 60-day injured list, which closed for the offseason and forced every player on it back onto the 40-man roster. After already moving Nate Eaton and Tsung-Che Cheng in offseason-opening trades, the club still had two more spots to clear.
The hope was that Boston might squeeze in a few more small deals and get something back in return. Instead, the team designated two players for assignment.
Zack Kelly was one of them. The right-hander has been in the organization since 2021, debuted in the majors in 2022 and has thrown 131.1 innings for Boston since then.
This past season, he put up a 3.31 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 14 strikeouts and seven walks over 16.1 innings. The Red Sox optioned him to Triple-A Worcester on May 22 and never brought him back, in part because he later landed on the 60-day IL in July with elbow inflammation and didn’t pitch again.
Kelly also had no minor league options left, which made his situation even trickier. A trade would have at least brought back a player or some cash, but that never materialized, and his future in Boston looked thin.
Boston also DFA’d Eduardo Rivera, and Chris Cotillo of MassLive said he had heard of “league interest” in Rivera, though he didn’t say when. The Red Sox signed Rivera to a minor league deal in the middle of the 2024 season, and he spent three seasons in the system before reaching Triple-A for the first time in 2026. At Worcester, he logged a 2.96 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 55 strikeouts and 27 walks over 45.2 innings.
Rivera got into four games for the Red Sox, including three starts as an opener, but the big-league results were rough: seven runs allowed on eight hits, with 10 strikeouts and six walks across 10 innings. He finished the season on the 60-day IL with a lumbar strain.
After Kelly and Rivera were removed from the picture, the Red Sox activated Triston Casas, Kutter Crawford, Johan Oviedo, Justin Slaten and Eli White from the 60-day IL. Because Kelly and Rivera were already on that list at season’s end, Boston avoided having to create roster room for them earlier.
Now the 40-man roster is full, and if the Red Sox want to add free agents or make more trades during the pre-lockout sprint, they’ll need to clear space again.
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