Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports (via Twitter) that the Red Sox have designated Jonathan Van Every for assignment. The move was made to free up a roster spot for Jacoby Ellsbury's activation from the disabled list.
The Red Sox traded for Van Every on April 24 in order to fill the holes in their outfield left by Ellsbury and Mike Cameron's trips to the DL. Appearing mostly as a late-game defensive replacement, Van Every hit .211/.286/.421 in 21 plate appearances this season. It was Van Every's second stint in Boston, as the outfielder appeared in 18 games for the Sox over the 2007-08 seasons before being released last July.
Though this is Van Every's tenth year of pro ball and he might have a bit of that "quadruple A" stigma, you have to think that there's room somewhere on a major league roster for an guy who brings a decent glove to every outfield position and has an .853 career OPS at Triple-A.
Doesn’t Van Every have options left?
Yes, he does. For what it’s worth, he’s posted really good defensive numbers in center as a minor leaguer (take that with a massive grain of salt) and looks pretty good out there, though Ks will prevent him from ever being better than decent as a hitter. I don’t see anyone grabbing him, but he could help a few teams…
Maybe the Pirates will take him again to play in AAAA. They were able to get someone for him the last time the Red Sox needed him back.
Only reason they got him was so they could send Reddick down to get more AB’s at AAA instead of sitting on the bench, it’s not like he figured into the teams long term plans and McDonald will be next since think he is out of options, so would have thought that VanEvery would have been optioned with a decent chance McDonald won’t make it through waivers when he is called back up when Cameron makes his reappearance soon.
This move had been long rumored but – had Boston definitely wanted to keep him – they could have optioned him down and instead DFA’d Hulett (who would probably not be claimed, given his struggles this season in Pawtucket). Granted, they might already have an assurance that JVE will stay, or they don’t want him, or they’re unexpectedly keeping McDonald for longer than we think, or…
Van Every has one more skill of value. He’s willing and able to pitch in a mop-up role.
I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just option him. Wouldn’t they rather have him than not have him?
They might actually be acting nice in this situation. By releasing him he may get to hook on with another MLB club. My impression has been that if the money involved is small, sometimes the Red Sox have been doing moves like that to help build a good rep among players. It probably saves money in the long run to have a potential FA visit the clubhouse and have a bunch of guys who have been treated well by the organization.
Not to get it confused though, if the money/gain is big- the Red Sox will be the first one to throw a guy overboard. The Bronson Arroyo trade was a great example of that.