Ex-Red Sox Hurler Signs With American League Foe As Opening Day Approaches

The veteran journeyman is taking his talents to the West Coast

Scott Neville | Mar 27, 2023

Ex-Red Sox Hurler Signs With American League Foe As Opening Day Approaches /

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The Boston Red Sox completely revamped their bullpen this offseason, which placed some of last year's talent in limbo, particularly those toward the bottom of the roster.

One of the players was Jeurys Familia, who has been far from a hot commodity this offseason but has found a new home.

Familia has agreed to a major-league deal with the Oakland Athletics on Sunday according to the Major League Baseball transaction wire.

The 33-year-old flamethrower went 1-2 with a 6.10 ERA, 8-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a .263 batting average against and 1.65 WHIP across 10 1/3 innings for the Red Sox last season.

After spending the last couple of months with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Familia was released Friday and will remain on the West Coast.

Familia will not go down as a well-known Red Sox reliever. In fact, he was part of the problem that forced Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to overhaul the bullpen. In that sense, Familia was a helpful contributor to setting up the 2023 roster for more success than its predecessor.

Boston will have six games against the Athletics in July. Assuming Familia can stick on the big-league roster, I'd imagine the Red Sox would welcome the opportunity to step in the box against the once-acclaimed hurler who has struggled to find any consistency over the last few seasons.

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Published Mar 27, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu