Three days after designating him for assignment, the Red Sox outrighted veteran infielder Travis Shaw for assignment on Sunday. Shaw, however, rejected the assignment and elected free agency instead.
After being claimed off waivers by the Red Sox from the Brewers last August, Shaw enjoyed a resurgence in his second stint with Boston in 2021. The left-handed hitter batted .238/.319/.524 with three doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs, and six runs scored over 28 games while also making the team’s Wild Card Game, Division Series, and Championship Series rosters in October.
On the other side of the lockout, Shaw inked a minor-league deal to remain with the Red Sox in March. While the 32-year-old did not perform particularly well in spring training, he still made Boston’s Opening Day roster as a left-handed bench bat who could platoon with Bobby Dalbec at first base.
That said, Shaw’s spring struggled carried over into the early stages of the regular season as he started out 0-for-19 at the plate with seven strikeouts. With Dalbec experiencing his fair share of offensive struggles as well, the Sox opted to remove Shaw from the 40-man roster so that they could call up Franchy Cordero in his place.
Now that he has cleared waivers and has become a free agent, Shaw is free to sign wherever he may choose. The Ohio native was originally selected by Boston in the ninth round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Kent State University and has 114 career home runs across 733 games between the Red Sox (2015-2016, 2021-2022), Brewers (2017-2019, 2021) and Blue Jays (2020). It will certainly be interesting to see if he can land with another team.
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