Bonser DFA'd to make room for Doubront

In order to make a roster spot for 22-year-old southpaw Felix Doubront, the Red Sox designated pitcher Boof Bonser for assignment on Friday. The team now has 10 days to trade or release Bonser, who was acquired in the offseason from the Twins but has spent considerable time on the disabled list. The 28-year-old made just two appearances for the Sox, allowing four earned runs in two innings.

Manager Terry Francona said Bonser was the odd man out because they wanted a second left-handed reliever behind Hideki Okajima. That meant keeping Dustin Richardson, who has allowed a hit but hasn't been charged with a run in 2/3 of an inning. 

"We really like having a second lefty. Part of keeping Oki productive with one lefty that’s a pretty good lefty, you can overuse him. We don’t want to overuse guys," said Francona. "Richardson has done a really good job in Triple-A. We’d kind of like to watch him pitch a little bit."

Francona suggested that the team decided to keep Scott Atchison over Bonser because the former is in a position where he can pitch fairly regularly. Bonser, who is 16 months removed from shoulder surgery, required greater restrictions on his workload. That said, based on the velocity that Bonser has shown (he hit 95 mph in a minor league relief outing), Francona suggested that the right-hander is "pretty healthy" and that he would likely resurface again soon.

"Boof’s going to pitch in the big leagues," said Francona. "I believe that."

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