The Boston Red Sox made a three-part roster move Monday, calling up pitcher Jedixson Paez, activating Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the 60-day injured list and designating Brett Harris for assignment while beating the Seattle Mariners 9-8 in the series opener. The changes were immediate. Paez was on the major league roster, Kiner-Falefa was back, and Harris was out.
For readers searching Paez’s name, this was the moment he reached the big club. The move came on a night when the Red Sox needed the roster space and chose Harris as the odd man out. There was no separate announcement of a role for Paez, only the fact that he was added as part of the shuffle.
Harris’s exit is easier to measure than his stay. He appeared in one game for Boston and went 0-for-2 on July 9 against the Chicago White Sox. That was enough to make him vulnerable when the club needed an opening, even though his minor league line was not empty. Between Triple-A Worcester and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he hit 10 home runs and drove in 53 runs this season, numbers that usually argue for more runway, not less.
The split between production and opportunity explains why this move lands with some force. Harris spent 34 games with Triple-A Worcester before the call, hitting.236 with three home runs and 19 RBI, and he had played 37 games earlier this season for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he hit five home runs, drove in 34 runs and posted a.336 average. He also made five appearances earlier this campaign with the Athletics and did not record a hit there. The raw power was there. The major league results were not, and that is the calculation that cost him his spot.
What comes next is still the open part. Paez has been added to the roster, but the Red Sox have not spelled out how they plan to use him. For now, the meaning of the move is plain: Boston wanted another arm available on Monday, and Harris’s brief run with the club ended before it really began.
