Red Sox offseason: Tyler Danish elects free agency after clearing waivers

The Red Sox have outrighted right-hander Tyler Danish off the 40-man roster, the club announced on Monday. Rather than accepting a minor-league assignment, Danish has elected to become a free agent.

Danish, 28, signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox this past February after spending the majority of the 2021 campaign in the Angels organization. The righty reliever was added to Boston’s 40-man roster in the final week of spring training and begin the year at Triple-A Worcester.

On April 19, Danish was recalled from the WooSox. He made his Red Sox debut the following day, marking his first big-league action since August 2018. In 32 relief appearances for Boston, Danish posted a 5.13 ERA and 4.97 FIP with 32 strikeouts to 12 walks over a career-high 40 1/3 innings of work.

A right forearm strain kept Danish on the injured list from July 7 until August 28. Prior to that lengthy IL stint, he had pitched to a 4.02 ERA in 31 1/3 innings out of the Boston bullpen. After the fact, he surrendered nine earned runs in six September appearances before being optioned to Worcester on the first of October.

Though no formal announcement was made, the Red Sox placed Danish on waivers in recent days. The Florida native has previously been outrighted in his career, so he had the right to become a free agent as soon as he cleared waivers, which is what happened on Monday.

It should be interesting to see how many teams reach out to Danish this winter. The 6-foot, 200-pound hurler held opponents to a .175 batting average against with his curveball — his most frequently-used pitch — this season. He also averaged 91.2 with his four-seam fastball while mixing in a sinker and changeup.

A former second-round draft pick of the White Sox out of Durant High School in 2013, Danish first broke in with Chicago in 2016. He appeared in just 11 games in parts of three major-league seasons with the South Siders before being released in Oct. 2018.

From there, Danish spent part of the 2019 campaign with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. He was then cut loose by Seattle that May and spent the rest of the year with the New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League. After another stint in indy ball with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association in 2020, Danish inked a minors pact with the Angels in last May.

All told, Danish owns a lifetime 5.06 ERA at the major-league level, a 3.65 ERA in indy ball, and a 5.51 ERA in 107 outings (39 starts) at the Triple-A level. He is out of minor-league options, so that could impact the way clubs view him moving forward.

By outrighting Danish, the Red Sox created an opening on their 40-man roster, which now sits at 39 players. That is noteworthy when considering the fact that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. will need to activate five players from the 60-day injured list once the offseason officially begins. They are also slated to see seven players (including Xander Bogaerts) file for free agency in the coming weeks.