The Boston Red Sox have moved on from veteran right-handed reliever Zack Kelly.
According to the MLB transaction log, the club designated Kelly for assignment on November 2, 2026, then saw him clear waivers and refuse a minor-league assignment, officially making him a free agent on November 6.
The moves came as Boston trimmed its 40-man roster after the season, reinstating several players from the 60-day injured list (which does not carry into the offseason).
Kelly and left-hander Eduardo Rivera were both designated for assignment the same day; Rivera was later traded.
Kelly, who turns 32 in March, spent his entire major-league career with the Red Sox after signing as a minor-league free agent in 2021 and debuting in 2022.
Across parts of five seasons, he logged 131⅓ innings in 115 appearances with a 4.04 ERA, 127 strikeouts, a 22.4% strikeout rate, and a 10.2% walk rate.
In 2026, he appeared in 17 games (16⅓ innings), posting a 3.31 ERA with 14 strikeouts against seven walks before an elbow injury ended his season.
That injury began as right elbow inflammation in July. Follow-up testing revealed a stress fracture/reaction in the olecranon. He is expected to resume throwing in the coming weeks and is not believed to need surgery.
Kelly has a prior elbow history, including internal-brace surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament in 2020 and an ulnar-nerve transposition revision in 2023.
He is also out of minor-league options and was arbitration-eligible for the first time, reducing the Red Sox’s roster flexibility. Those factors, combined with the injury, made him a logical candidate for the designation as the club finalized its 40-man roster.
Because he has more than three years of major-league service time, Kelly was able to elect free agency after clearing waivers rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.
Analysts expect him to land on a minor-league deal this winter—potentially even returning to Boston or joining another organization—while he works back from the elbow issue.
If added to a big-league roster later, he would remain controllable for at least three more seasons.
For a club that finished 87-75 and third in the AL East, the move is one of several early roster housekeeping decisions as the offseason begins.
Kelly’s combination of a live arm (he averages roughly 96 mph with his four-seamer and sinker) and recent productive stretches gives him a reasonable chance to find another opportunity once healthy.
