The Pink Sox hoped guaranteeing Cooper Criswell $800,000 for the upcoming season could be sufficient to discourage groups from claiming him off waivers, within the occasion they wanted to take away him from the 40-man roster.
That gambit failed Friday, when the New York Mets claimed the righty off waivers.
The transfer comes lower than 24 hours after the Pink Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates swung a five-player commerce, with Boston designating Criswell for project so as to open a roster spot. The Pink Sox obtained right-handed starter Johan Oviedo, lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego, and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman in change for high outfield prospect Jhostynxon ‘The Password’ Garcia and minor league pitcher Jesus Travieso.
Criswell, 29, pitched to a 4.00 ERA over these final two years with the Pink Sox, throughout which he pitched in 33 big-league video games and made 19 begins. He was an underrated a part of the ’24 Pink Sox, pitching a career-high 99.1 innings and posting a 4.08 ERA over 26 video games. Struggles in aid appearances (7.53 ERA) inflated the swingman’s general ERA; he pitched to a 3.49 mark over 18 begins.
With a more healthy main league pitching workers in ’25, Criswell spent the vast majority of the season in Triple-A Worcester. He made simply seven big-league appearances, together with one begin, and allowed seven earned runs over 17.2 innings (3.57 ERA). His last look for the Pink Sox was a gem: making his first, and in the end solely, big-league begin of the season on Aug. 1 at Fenway Park, he held the visiting Houston Astros to only one earned run, a solo homer, on seven hits, two walks, and struck out 4 over seven innings in a 2-1 extra-inning Pink Sox win.
In Triple-A, Criswell posted a 3.70 ERA throughout 65.2 innings (16 video games, 14 begins). His season resulted in late August when he landed on the minor league injured record with proper elbow irritation.
The 2026 main league minimal is $780,000, however Criswell doubtless would have earned a fraction of that if he remained with Boston, as he was not projected to spend a lot of the upcoming season on the big-league roster. Giving him a assured wage of $800,000 would have additionally incentivized him to just accept an outright project to the minors, one thing he had the ability to say no as he had beforehand been outrighted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022.
