Red Sox Must Make This Roster Move Before Critical Showdown Vs. Yankees

It's the biggest series of the year for the Boston Red Sox, and they're limping into it.

After three awful losses to the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox will face the suddenly red-hot New York Yankees for four games in the Bronx this weekend. Boston now trails New York by one game in the wild card race (could be 1 1/2 by Thursday's opener), and they're 2 1/2 games clear of the first team on the outside looking in, the Kansas City Royals.

Boston needs their best possible 26-man roster to take on the Yankees this weekend. There are some questions that need to sort themselves out, but there's one player on that roster right now that they absolutely cannot afford to bring with them to Yankee Stadium.

Red Sox must get Isaiah Campbell off the roster

Right-handed pitcher Isaiah Campbell hasn't thrown since Saturday, and that's because he's the very last man on the bullpen depth chart. But he indirectly caused this entire three-game losing streak by forcing the Red Sox to use closer Aroldis Chapman to prevent the tying run from scoring in that Saturday game, after allowing three runs in a ninth inning that began with a 7-2 lead.

Campbell came to the Red Sox last season, and he was unpitchable then, too. In two years, he's only managed to earn 14 1/3 big-league innings in Boston, and he's got an 11.30 ERA to show for them. When you only get eight pitchers in a bullpen, you can't have a mop-up guy that can't record an out.

The Red Sox need to get Campbell out of the picture by Thursday, and they have limited options to do so. They could bring back Justin Slaten quickly from his rehab assignment, but they'd need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. They could call up Nick Burdi, who was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A last week, which also would mean someone would have to be DFA'd.

If they really want to keep Campbell around, they can try out Richard Fitts, a starter who is already on the 40-man, in the bullpen. But he doesn't have any relief appearances this season, and only had one in the minors last year.

So, final verdict? Just rip off the Band-Aid and DFA Campbell. Bring up Burdi for now, keep getting Slaten built up for next week, and ideally, give Fitts a taste of the bullpen at some point. As much as teams love to stockpile arms these days, there's just no reason to keep wasting a roster spot on someone who hasn't demonstrated the ability to be a major league pitcher.