Red Sox DFA Danny Coulombe on Day 1 of MLB Draft

[Jack Lindsay]

The Boston Red Sox have designated left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe for assignment on Saturday after he went two innings against the Mets and walked three. Coulombe struggled through the 2026 season producing a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings of work with a 1.50 WHIP and an 11.4% strikeout rate versus a bloated 13.6% walk rate. The underlying numbers backed up his performance this season, as he produced a 4.71 FIP and a 5.91 SIERA. 

Coulombe was brought in as lefty help in the spring, with only closer Aroldis Chapman profiling as a legitimate left-handed option, but he did not meet the expectations set for him.

One interesting note from Chris Cotillo, who broke the DFA news:

So it seems that beyond his play this season, there was legitimate financial incentive for the Red Sox to make this move. No corresponding transaction has been announced yet.

View full rumor

[moonslav59]

Wow.

I bet a trade is made before the DFA ticker runs out.

[notin]

So now Breslow has DFAd all the relievers he brought in tjis offseason 

[vegasbob]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Wow.

I bet a trade is made before the DFA ticker runs out.

That would be good because Coulombe was a ticking time bomb

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, notin said:

So now Breslow has DFAd all the relievers he brought in tjis offseason 

Guerrero & Watson?

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

That would be good because Coulombe was a ticking time bomb

Kinda, but he has been better than Watson.

is .646 OPS Against was better tan Sonny Gray

[moonslav59]

It's weird how OPS is like the bible for batters but OPS Against is hardly viewed as telling.

.200 Rivera (10 PAs)

.550 Bennett

.566 Moran

.572 Whitlock

.594 Sandoval (19 PAs)

.604 Guerrero

.607 Chapman (3 RP'ers are better in OPSA)

.613 Tolle (Not considered better than Gray & Suarez)

.614 Kelly (demoted to AAA)

.621 Suarez

.646 Coulombe (DFA'd over some measly bonuses.)

.654 Gray

.687 Weissert (often criticized on game threads)

.713 Anderson (32 PAs)

.714 Samaniego (AAA)

.720 Early

.752 Watson (210 PAs most among RP'ers)

.771 Gamboa (still around)

.818 Crochet (IL)

.847 Slaten (our #3 RP)

.851 Bello (AAA)

4 others are gone, demoted or on IL.

[JoeBrady]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Kinda, but he has been better than Watson.

is .646 OPS Against was better tan Sonny Gray

Coloumbe had a 0/7 K/W in his last 7 starts.  Watson has a 3.31/3.86 ERA/FIP over his last 35.1 IPs, with multiple inning capability.

[notin]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Wow.

I bet a trade is made before the DFA ticker runs out.

Coulombe had a $75,000 appearance bonus he earned at games 30, 45, 60.  His last appearance was number 29.

He wasn’t solely cut to save $75,000; he was cut because he’s not worth the appearance bonuses.  I base this on the fact that he was kept beyond his roster bonuses of $250,000 for 30 days on the roster, with others kicking in at 60, 90, 120 and 150 days.

Coulombe won’t be on waivers long.  Sox are down one spot on the 40 man…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Coulombe had a $75,000 appearance bonus he earned at games 30, 45, 60.  His last appearance was number 29.

He wasn’t solely cut to save $75,000; he was cut because he’s not worth the appearance bonuses.  I base this on the fact that he was kept beyond his roster bonuses of $250,000 for 30 days on the roster, with others kicking in at 60, 90, 120 and 150 days.

Coulombe won’t be on waivers long.  Sox are down one spot on the 40 man…

Okay. He was cut to save upwards of $250K.

He's better than Watson, IMO. I still think he will be traded.

[illinoisredsox]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Okay. He was cut to save upwards of $250K.

He's better than Watson, IMO. I still think he will be traded.

Different role than Watson.  Watson is the 8th guy in the pen, mop up duty and has been better after a terrible start (as noted by JoeBrady above).  He also has the ability to go multiple innings; last night was the first time Coulombe has gone more than one.  Plus Watson can actually strike out a batter.  Coulombe has struck out 5 guys since April.

Neither will be going to Cooperstown without a paid admission.

[moonslav59]

26 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

Different role than Watson.  Watson is the 8th guy in the pen, mop up duty and has been better after a terrible start (as noted by JoeBrady above).  He also has the ability to go multiple innings; last night was the first time Coulombe has gone more than one.  Plus Watson can actually strike out a batter.  Coulombe has struck out 5 guys since April.

Neither will be going to Cooperstown without a paid admission.

K's shmays.

I'll take the .629 OPS Against. Only 6 Sox pitchers have faced more batters AND ave a lower OPSA (Bennett, Moran, Whitlock, Chapman, Tolle and Suarez, of which only 3 are RP'ers.)

RP'ers are hot & cold, so I'd keep the hot ones, knowing they may go cold at any moment.

The only plus for Watson is his age, upside and control years. The only pitcher on the staff with more PAs and a worse OPSA is Bello. That's how badly Watson has been. There is a reason he only pitches mop up and its his .752 OPSA. The whole "he's a good mop up man, because he can go two innings" cracks me up. The mop up man should be the first to go.

This is about JH wanting to save up to $250K. If we get something good back for DC, I'll retract my position.

[UtahSox]

35 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

K's shmays.

I'll take the .629 OPS Against. Only 6 Sox pitchers have faced more batters AND ave a lower OPSA (Bennett, Moran, Whitlock, Chapman, Tolle and Suarez, of which only 3 are RP'ers.)

RP'ers are hot & cold, so I'd keep the hot ones, knowing they may go cold at any moment.

The only plus for Watson is his age, upside and control years. The only pitcher on the staff with more PAs and a worse OPSA is Bello. That's how badly Watson has been. There is a reason he only pitches mop up and its his .752 OPSA. The whole "he's a good mop up man, because he can go two innings" cracks me up. The mop up man should be the first to go.

This is about JH wanting to save up to $250K. If we get something good back for DC, I'll retract my position.

Both guys suck…. I’m on pins and Needles anytime either of them take the mound. But I agree if we waived Coulumbe to save JH 250k (2 weeks worth of yacht fuel) and it puts our momentum at risk what a bozo owner. 

[UtahSox]

All that being said, we really should not second-guess Breslow and Bailey on pitching right now they have been on fire

[Hugh2]

18 hours ago, UtahSox said:

All that being said, we really should not second-guess Breslow and Bailey on pitching right now they have been on fire

Yup, they get an A+ with the pitching. 

Transfering young rookies into the big leagues at the plate however I highly question.  Pure hyperbole here but I wonder if thats why they are scared to promote Franklin Arias. 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

Pure hyperbole here

I tend to think these things are all overrated, and some guys come along slower and faster than others, but at least a tiny bit of concern is warranted.

[mvp 78]

On 7/11/2026 at 10:37 PM, notin said:

So now Breslow has DFAd all the relievers he brought in tjis offseason 

They DFA'd Tyron? 

[mvp 78]

On 7/11/2026 at 11:47 PM, JoeBrady said:

Guerrero & Watson?

While I really don't like Watson, with all the young guys needing to reduce their workload, the Sox are going to need to increase his innings going forward. 😬

[JoeBrady]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

While I really don't like Watson, with all the young guys needing to reduce their workload, the Sox are going to need to increase his innings going forward. 😬

That's always one of those underlying factors that get overlooked.  Not to get too Machiavellian, but some of these RPs are there to be abused.  Watson has 13 appearances of 2 or more IPs, with respectable results.  And if he gets worn out, it's not a large cost relative to some of our young SPs.

[mvp 78]

44 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

That's always one of those underlying factors that get overlooked.  Not to get too Machiavellian, but some of these RPs are there to be abused.  Watson has 13 appearances of 2 or more IPs, with respectable results.  And if he gets worn out, it's not a large cost relative to some of our young SPs.

Extension and a good sweeper, it's all he's got. Everything else is pretty bad. 

 

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Extension and a good sweeper, it's all he's got. Everything else is pretty bad. 

 

Those are YTD numbers.  Since he is a rookie, here is some merit to weighing his recent results more heavily.  The numbers are much better more recently, and 51.2 IPs is not a small sample size.

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Those are YTD numbers.  Since he is a rookie, here is some merit to weighing his recent results more heavily.  The numbers are much better more recently, and 51.2 IPs is not a small sample size.

He's 28 years old. If I have to heavily weigh a small sample size for him, he must be pretty bad. 

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He's 28 years old. If I have to heavily weigh a small sample size for him, he must be pretty bad. 

Why?  Lots of players get started late because their original teams had no spot for them, particularly RPs.

[moonslav59]

9 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They DFA'd Tyron? 

and Watson, Samaniego & Rivera?

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He's 28 years old. If I have to heavily weigh a small sample size for him, he must be pretty bad. 

I'm not a big fan of Coulombe, and I know the .629 OPS Against is not everything, but how do his peripherals compare to Watson's?

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not a big fan of Coulombe, and I know the .629 OPS Against is not everything, but how do his peripherals compare to Watson's?

Per FG, he had a 6.18 xFIP.  At a level of 20 IPs, he was #242 out of 242 in K-BB%.

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Per FG, he had a 6.18 xFIP.  At a level of 20 IPs, he was #242 out of 242 in K-BB%.

Its the same stat. FIP is based on Ks and  BBs.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Its the same stat. FIP is based on Ks and  BBs.

Also home runs…

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Also home runs…

True, and DC is pretty good on that.

[JoeBrady]

35 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

True, and DC is pretty good on that.

DC' FB% in 2026 is 24.3%, which is higher than his career 21.8%, and higher than the league average.  His HR/FB of 3.8% is likely unsustainably low.