Former A's, Red Sox infielder elects free agency

Jason Burke | Oct 22, 2024

Aug 19, 2023; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Pablo Reyes (19) makes a running throw to first base in the fifth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Pablo Reyes, who most recently played in the big leagues with the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets in 2024, has elected free agency. Reyes was a pretty big part of the Sox roster in 2023 after coming over in a May trade with the Oakland A's for cash. He ended up hitting .287 with a .339 OBP and a .716 OPS across 64 games for Boston last season.

This year he did not have the same success. Reyes, 31, wound up in just 21 games with the Sox this season, batting .183 with a .234 OBP and a .451 OPS. After struggling through April, he was outrighted to the minors, and a couple of weeks later, traded to the Mets for cash.

Reyes spent the rest of the year with the Syracuse Mets, getting into 63 games while batting .290 with a .371 OBP and a .864 OPS. His contract was selected on September 1, and the extent of his Mets career was when he came in to pinch-run for J.D. Martinez in the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox that same day, after Martinez had drawn a walk to begin a two-out rally.

The next batter, and another former A's great, Starling Marte would double Reyes home, putting the Mets up 2-0. They would win by the same score. Reyes was DFA'd by the Mets on September 9 and sent back to Syracuse. He never received a plate appearance with New York.

Reyes also never got into a game for the A's, but he was seen as an interesting depth piece when the signed him to a minor-league deal ahead of the 2023 season. Since 2018, he has played in the big leagues in every year outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and adding someone with experience in the bigs was not a small feat for the A's heading into that year. Remember, they had also signed Aledmys Díaz and Jace Peterson to multi-year deals, and scooped up Jesús Aguilar late in spring training while Trevor May was the team's closer. They were looking for veterans to help with this club.

Reyes fit more in the mold of Brent Rooker, a guy that had some experience in the Majors, but hadn't been given a ton of consistent opportunities. The A's weren't the team that gave him that opportunity, but they found a club that could use him in the Red Sox.

After a down month at the beginning of the season, Reyes will now be looking to sign on with another club that could use depth at pretty much any infield position.