Red Sox sign Seth Blair, release John Andreoli

For the first week of the season Chaim Bloom was extremely busy as he was churning through new pitchers being added to the roster that he found either unsigned or on waivers. That process slowed down for about a week, but the team has made another move on Friday. Prior to the start of their series against the Blue Jays, Boston signed right-handed pitcher Seth Blair and added him to the 60-man player pool, assigning him to the alternate site in Pawtucket. To make room, outfielder John Andreoli was released.

Blair is a very interesting story, going back to the start of his professional career when he was drafted in the compensation round (46th overall) by the Cardinals in the 2010 draft. The Cardinals pushed the former Arizona State Sun Devil quickly despite never really having success at any level. Still, he made it up to Triple-A in 2014, but that would also be his last year for a long time.

Blair stopped playing at that point up until last season, when he signed on with the Padres to attempt a comeback. Pitching at High-A, the now-30-year-old appeared in 17 games (two starts) and tossed 35 innings with a 4.11 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 11 walks. Those are impressive peripherals, and remember the ERA is certainly inflated by playing in the hitter-friendly California League.

Blair also found himself in the news this summer while baseball was in shutdown, as he transformed his backyard into a throwing facility and welcomed professional pitchers from all levels who needed a place to throw. The New York Times did a profile on the righty in June.

Meanwhile, Andreoli was cut before he was able to get a chance at his Red Sox debut. A Worcestor native, he was signed by the Red Sox this past winter and has been bouncing around different organizations for the past few seasons. Last year at Triple-A with Seattle and Minnesota he hit .255/.389/.449.