Red Sox Designate Vladimir Gutierrez For Assignment

The Red Sox announced that they have signed first baseman Dominic Smith to a one-year contract. He’ll take the roster spot of outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left thumb sprain, retroactive to April 29. To open a 40-man spot for Smith, right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez has been designated for assignment. Prior to the official announcement, manager Álex Cora announced that Yoshida was heading to the IL on Jones & Mego. Hat tip to Rob Bradford of WEEI. The Sox adding Smith was reported on earlier today.

Yoshida, 30, has hit .275/.348/.388 so far this year. That’s fairly comparable to last year’s production, when he hit .289/.338/.445 in his first season after coming over from Japan. He departed Sunday’s game after jamming his hand during an at-bat, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. Smith relayed yesterday that Yoshida would be getting an MRI, which seems to have revealed this injury.

Though the Sox won’t be happy to lose Yoshida’s bat, his absence will give them a bit of lineup flexibility. He has primarily been serving as the designated hitter this year, with just one inning in left field. They can now use that DH spot to rotate various players through based on health and matchups.

With Triston Casas on the injured list and unlikely to return any time soon, the Sox have been looking outside the organization for help at first base. They acquired Garrett Cooper from the Cubs but he himself is banged up after getting hit by a pitch last night on his arm last night. Chris Cotillo of MassLive relayed that Cooper is just bruised and is going to be okay but it’s possible he may need a day or two to rest up.

With Smith now on the roster, he can perhaps cover for Cooper as he is on the mend. With Yoshida out, the Sox could have both Smith and Cooper in the lineup via the DH slot, if they so choose. Both players have a bit of outfield experience but neither of them are considered strong defenders on the grass.

To get Smith onto the roster, the Sox have cut Gutierrez. The 28-year-old was acquired from the Brewers in a cash deal a couple of weeks ago. The Red Sox have kept him down in Triple-A on optional assignment since then, where he has pitched six innings over three appearances, allowing four earned runs while striking out seven but walking eight.

The Sox will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He’s been bouncing around the league quite a bit this year. He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in February and was selected to their roster in the first few days of the season. He was designated for assignment and went to the Brewers on a waiver claim, before being DFA’d again and getting flipped to the Red Sox. That makes today his third DFA in roughly a month.

The Cuban righty joined affiliated ball by signing with the Reds as a 21-year-old, earning a bonus of $4.75MM. He made his major league debut in 2021 with 114 innings over 22 starts, posting a 4.74 earned run average that year while striking out just 17.7% of batters faced. He struggled in 2022 before requiring Tommy John surgery in June of that year, wiping out the remainder of that season and most of his 2023. The Reds outrighted him off their roster at the end of last year, which led to his minor league deal with Miami.