Red Sox release Allen Craig

Allen Craig will go down as one of the most misguided Red Sox acquisitions in franchise history, and his time with the organization has come to a close.

I don’t need to tell you that Craig, who was acquired along with Joe Kelly for John Lackey back in 2014, hasn’t performed at all since coming to the organization. He got all of 195 plate appearances at the major-league level and hit .139/.236/.197 for a 21 OPS+. He was eventually outrighted off the 40-man roster and stashed in Pawtucket midway through 2015. In 182 plate appearances with the PawSox this season he hit just .253/.352/.316. Because he was outrighted off the roster, the remainder of his contract that will be bought out will not count against the luxury tax.