Red Sox Release Danny Coulombe

Veteran reliever Danny Coulombe has cleared waivers and been released by the Red Sox, according to his MLB.com transaction tracker. The left-hander was designated for assignment last weekend. Coulombe had enough service time to reject an outright assignment. Boston went ahead and cut him.

Coulombe was bumped off the 40-man at the precipice of a bonus. His contract included incentives for appearances and time on the roster, including a $75K payday when he reached 30 games. His final outing with the club, which consisted of two scoreless frames against the Mets, was his 29th appearance.

The incentive-laden deal was the result of red flags during Coulombe’s medical review. He was initially set to sign a $2.25MM agreement with $750K in appearance-based bonuses. Instead, the sides agreed to an adjusted contract with a $1MM guarantee and $1.25MM in bonuses for days spent on the roster, along with the appearance incentives.

The 36-year-old Coulombe posted a 4.50 ERA in 22 innings with the Red Sox. A 6.34 SIERA suggests he was a bit lucky to have that mark. Coulombe’s strikeout rate tumbled to 10.4%. He had more walks (15) than strikeouts (10). It’s a significant step back from Coulombe’s recent work. He came into the year riding a streak of four straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA.

Coulombe was part of Minnesota’s mass bullpen selloff at last year’s trade deadline. He delivered a pristine 1.16 ERA through 40 games with the Twins, but struggled after getting dealt to the Rangers. Coulombe could quickly find his way onto another big-league roster.