Boston Red Sox claim Jean Machi off waivers from Giants

The Boston Red Sox announced on Tuesday that they’ve claimed reliever Jean Machi off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Clay Buchholz has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list in a corresponding move.

After two strong seasons as a member of the Giants bullpen, Machi fell on hard times in 2015, posting a 5.14 ERA across 33 appearances (35.0 innings). His strikeout rate was the lowest it’s been since 2011 (5.7 K/9 this year against 8.7 K/9 in 2013), while his walk rate climb over a point from last year from 2.4 to 3.6 BB/9.

That being said, Machi did throw four scoreless appearances at AAA this year, and had scoreless appearances in seven of his final 10 appearances with San Francisco. The reliever is also under club control through 2019, making him an appealing target as a buy-low (free, in this case) bounce-back candidate if he can get back to his 2013-2014 form. Machi posted sub-3.00 ERAs in each of the last two seasons, leaving Boston a reason to believe there’s still something in the thank for the Venezuela native.

With Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara each a candidate to be traded before Friday, Machi will also provide Boston with relief depth should they lose one or both relievers.

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