In order to clear roster space for Grady Sizemore, the Red Sox have designated right-handed reliever Brayan Villarreal for assignment, reports Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). Villarreal came to Boston as part of the last year's Jake Peavy deal.
Villarreal faced only one batter for Boston last year, and spent most of the year at Triple-A for the Tigers. In 42 1/3 innings at that level, he posted a 2.76 ERA and 10.6 K/9 against 6.4 BB/9. Only 26 years of age, Villarreal was strong in his only season of full-time MLB work, throwing 54 2/3 innings of 2.63 ERA ball for the Tigers in 2012 (including 10.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9). As Alex Speier of WEEI.com tweets, Villarreal is out of options and therefore faced an uphill battle to stick on the 40-man roster.
