A fascinating week for the Boston Red Sox's bullpen is headed to the weekend on a cliff-hanger.
Left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe has been working his way back from the injured list after suffering cervical spasms three weeks ago. He made two rehab starts over the course of this past week, and his next outing is likely to come in the majors.
However, on Friday, the Red Sox opted not to activate Coulombe from the IL, according to a report from Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That means an important decision is delayed by at least one more day.
Because the Red Sox called up 35-year-old Tayron Guerrero on Thursday, they have limited options when it comes to choosing who to remove from the bullpen for Coulombe's return. Someone is going to get the boot, but none of the answers make as much sense as they would have before Guerrero arrived.
Zack Kelly was on a nice roll, but he had a minor-league option available, so he drew the short straw for Guerrero's promotion. Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Jovani Morán, and Justin Slaten aren't going anywhere unless they've got injuries we don't know about presently. That leaves four people who could be removed from the bullpen to facilitate Coulombe's return.
The first is Guerrero himself, which would be awfully anticlimactic after just one outing -- and he'd immediately be exposed to waivers. Tyler Samaniego and Greg Weissert could be optioned to the minors, but Samaniego frankly doesn't deserve that fate, while Weissert has been in the majors for nearly two years straight.
Finally, there's Ryan Watson, who has become the mop-up guy in the Boston bullpen. He was a Rule 5 Draft acquisition, so he has no options and would have to be offered back to the San Francisco Giants if he was designated for assignment and cleared waivers. He could obviously go on the injured list as well if there's a justification.
Bottom line: When Coulombe returns, the Red Sox either have to DFA Watson or take someone out of the bullpen who would have a reason to gripe about that fate. That decision is coming soon, but it's hard to project just how it will shake out.