The Red Sox released five minor-leaguers on Monday, including one of the prospects they acquired from the Royals as part of the three-team Andrew Benintendi trade a little more than three years ago.
Boston cut ties with right-hander Luis De La Rosa, who came over from Kansas City in June 2021 as one of the three players to be named later in the Benintendi deal. The Red Sox also acquired fellow righty Grant Gambrell from the Royals and outfielder Freddy Valdez from the Mets after bringing in Josh Winckowski and Franchy Cordero four months prior.
De La Rosa, then just 18 years old, had originally signed with the Royals for $147,500 as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in July 18. At the time he was traded to the Red Sox, the Santo Domingo native had yet to pitch above the Dominican Summer League and hadn’t done so since 2019 since the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor-league season.
Upon switching organizations for the first time in his young career, De La Rosa made his stateside debut for Boston’s rookie-level Florida Complex affiliate on June 29, 2021. He spent the rest of the season in Fort Myers and returned there for the start of the 2022 campaign before making the jump to Low-A Salem that July.
In his first taste of full-season ball, De La Rosa pitched to a 4.72 ERA with 38 strikeouts to 12 walks in 11 relief appearances (34 1/3 innings) for Salem down the stretch in 2022. The 21-year-old spent all of 2023 with the Sox’ Carolina League affiliate as well, posting a 2.94 ERA with a staff-leading 88 strikeouts to 40 walks over 28 outings (six starts) spanning 70 1/3 innings in which he held opposing hitters to a .208 batting average against.
Despite those relatively solid results, the Red Sox elected to move on from De La Rosa, who was at minor-league camp in Fort Myers this spring and likely gunning for a spot in High-A Greenville’s bullpen to start the 2024 season. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound hurler will now presumably look to take his talents elsewhere in the coming weeks.
In addition to De La Rosa, the Red Sox also parted ways with right-handers Nate Tellier and Jordan DiValerio (two members of Boston’s 2020 undrafted free agent class), left-hander Jorge Rodriguez (an international signee out of Mexico in 2017), and outfielder Deundre Jones (a 17th-round pick in the 2022 draft) on Monday, per the MiLB.com transactions log.
With De La Rosa’s release, only two of the five players the Red Sox ultimately acquired from the Royals and Mets as part of the Benintendi trade remain in the organization. Like De La Rosa, Valdez was cut loose last May after unsuccessfully transitioning to pitching. Cordero, on the other hand, was non-tendered by Boston in November 2022 and has since signed with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
As for the players who are still with the Red Sox, Winckowski is coming off a promising 2023 season in which he forged a 2.88 ERA over 84 1/3 big-league innings (83 1/3 of which came in relief) and is now competing for a spot in Boston’s Opening Day starting rotation. Gambrell, meanwhile, made it to Triple-A Worcester last year and is currently ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 37 prospect in the system.
(Picture of Luis De La Rosa: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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