The Boston Red Sox lost a bit of quality relief pitcher depth on Thursday.
According to MLB’s transaction log, Nick Burdi has elected free agency.
Burdi is a talented right-handed reliever, and instead of pursuing a new contract agreement with the Red Sox, he’s entering the free agent pool to seek a contract with any team.
The hard thrower made four appearances for the Red Sox in 2025 and threw 5.1 innings. He had a 0.00 ERA in the small sample size.
Burdi was really good at Triple-A Worcester. He made 31 appearances and threw 35 innings, putting up a 2.83 ERA. Burdi struck out 11.6 batters per nine innings.
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Burdi was once a second-round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins out of Louisville.
He’s 32 years old now.
Burdi has pitched in parts of six MLB seasons. That includes three with the Pittsburgh Pirates and one apiece with the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and now the Red Sox.
He’s been effective over the last two seasons. In 12 appearances for the Yankees in 2024, he had a 1.86 ERA.
He has struck out 44 batters in 30.1 innings in his MLB career.
Burdi likely is just a depth piece at this point, but he’s proven enough in that role that he’ll surely get another contract soon, just potentially not with Boston.
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