It’s official, the Red Sox starter with an 8.66 ERA has been designated for assignment.
John Smoltz is outta here!

I’ll give him credit for being an amazing pitcher in his younger days. One year he had a postseason with a 2.65 ERA and went 15-4. In his career, he’s had 3,044 strikeouts. 212 wins. 154 saves. Impressive, but he couldn’t pull it off for the Red Sox.

So, Theo Epstein has announced the news. But it seems that John Smotlz might still be with the Red Sox organization, as he might pitch for Pawtucket. The Paw Sox also need some pitchers, and Smoltz might be the answer. And who knows, maybe down the line Smoltz could be a Boston reliever?

Here are some words about Smoltz from Theo Epstein, Terry Francona and Jason Varitek:

How did John react to the news? Theo Epstein says:
“John understood and we asked him just to go home for a few days and
think about what he wants to do, think about if he can still help. The
good thing about the designation is that it buys some time to come up
with the appropriate assignment. I’m sure I’ll have something for you
guys next week.” (redsox.com)

How do you feel about John? Terry Francona says:
“I think we appreciated what his pedigree and his past was and respect
it a lot. And he didn’t let us
down as far as [the type of] person he is, or his work ethic. He gave
everything he had. He just got to a point where we think we need to
make a change to help our team do better. But that would never lessen
the respect we have for him and what he’s accomplished in his career.” (redsox.com)


Why do you think John hasn’t performed? Jason Varitek says:
“I think it’s just him adjusting to his new shoulder. I
just know that the man has put in a tremendous amount of work to even
be where he was. That’s commendable in itself. The Baltimore start,
what he went through to even take the ball for six innings — that
should be recognized.” (redsox.com)