Edward Mujica entered this season as the Red Sox’s fallback plan at closer behind Koji Uehara, but 11 appearances later the 31-year-old right-hander has been designated for assignment.
Mujica wasn’t terrible, posting a 4.61 ERA and 8/3 K/BB ratio in 14 innings, but when combined with his underwhelming performance for Boston last season and declining raw stuff the Red Sox decided to cut bait on a pitcher owed $4.75 million as part of a two-year, $9 million deal.
Mujica posted some great strikeout-to-walk ratios and ERAs early in his career with the Padres, Marlins, and Cardinals, but he hasn’t topped 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings since 2011 and looks like a middle reliever at this point.
He’ll almost surely pass through waivers unclaimed.