Jose

De Leon

De León heads to the open market after refusing an outright assignment from the Red Sox. The 33-year-old journeyman was removed from the club’s 40-man roster last week after being called up to make a spot start on the final day of the regular season.

De León has been jettisoned from Boston’s 40-man roster heading into the offseason after being called up to make a spot start on the final day of the regular season. The 33-year-old former top prospect struck out eight and allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings in his first big-league appearance since the 2023 season.

De Leon punched out eight batters on the afternoon while allowing three walks. The only blemish on his day came on a three-run blast by Javier Baez over the Green Monster in the fourth inning. Aside from that, the 33-year-old right-hander was in complete command. He got 16 whiffs on 101 pitches on the day, registering a strong CSW of 32 percent. He’s unlikely to make the Red Sox’ playoff roster, but he made a statement on Sunday to show that he may still have the ability to get outs at the big league level.

Now this is interesting. De Leon returns to the majors for the first time since the 2023 campaign to make a spot start during Sunday’s season finale against the Tigers after posting a bloated 6.93 ERA across 75 1/3 innings over 22 appearances (13 starts) this season at the Triple-A level. The 33-year-old former top pitching prospect’s career has been derailed by serious injuries, including another Tommy John surgery back in 2023, so it’s a testament to his perseverance to see him make it back to the majors again.

De León made the announcement on his Instagram account. The 32-year-old righty hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2023 after making a career-high 12 appearances for the Twins. He represents a low-risk addition for the Red Sox as extra organizational depth.

De León showed impressive stuff this season, but he required Tommy John surgery in July and should miss most or all of 2024. He’ll become a free agent.

De Leon’s career is at another crossroads after undergoing another Tommy John surgery last month. He’s expected to be sidelined until the late stages of the 2024 campaign. The procedural move opened up a spot on Minnesota’s 40-man roster for veteran southpaw Dallas Keuchel.

There’s a chance that De León’s career could be over as he underwent several elbow procedures in addition to a UCL reconstruction. The 30-year-old righty was in the midst of a strong season for Minnesota before landing on the injured list last month. He’ll be sidelined until at least the late stages of the 2024 campaign.

The decision was made after his recent MRI revealed a torn ligament in his right elbow. It’s a crushing blow for the 30-year-old hurler who put in so much work to get back to the big league level. He’ll miss the remainder of the 2023 season — and at least the first half of the 2024 campaign — while recovering from the surgery.

Yikes. After throwing a warmup pitch on Saturday, De León grabbed his elbow and immediately headed towards the Twins dugout. The team has not announced how severe the injury is, but the 30-year-old could be out for an extended period.