The Red Sox will designate first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Rosenthal adds that the Red Sox may be on the verge of a trade, but president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski refused comment on the matter.
Notably, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo tweeted recently that the Sox “appear” to be on the verge of adding someone via trade or waiver claim, so Selsky’s DFA would clear a 40-man roster spot to facilitate such a move. Rosenthal tweets that the move is “likely” for an outfielder.
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Selsky, 28, received just nine plate appearances with the Red Sox this offseason and has struggled through Triple-A as well. Despite a strong track record at that level in the Reds organization prior to the 2017 season, Selsky has posted a disappointing .215/.270/.360 batting line with 11 homers and 10 doubles through 322 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the solid .280/.353/.469 that he slashed in Triple-A last year as well as the strong .314/.340/.471 line he posted through 54 PAs in his Major League debut with Cincinnati in 2016.