Three days after the Red Sox released him, one of the prospects Boston acquired in the ill-fated 2021 trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to the Brewers has hooked on with a new organization.
Infielder Alex Binelas has signed a minor league deal with Dave Dombrowski’s Phillies and was assigned to Double-A Reading on Tuesday. He’ll try to work his way up that organization’s ladder after topping out at Triple-A Worcester with the Red Sox and being cut Friday.
Binelas, now 25, was obtained in one of the most notable trade of Chaim Bloom’s Boston tenure but didn’t pan out. Shortly before the 2021-2022 MLB lockout went into effect, the Sox shipped Renfroe (coming off a 31-homer season) to the Brewers for Bradley and two prospects (Binelas and David Hamilton). Though Binelas was thought to be the better minor leaguer in the deal, it’s Hamilton — with 144 big league games under his belt since 2023 — who has made an impact at the major league level. Binelas split 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A and hit .252 with nine homers, 60 RBIs and a .766 OPS in 91 games. He played sparingly this year for a WooSox team with a crowded position player mix and hit .257 with two homers, six RBIs and an .823 OPS in that span.
Binelas peaked as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s system, according to SoxProspects.com, back in 2022.
New arm signed
The Red Sox did make an addition to their pitching depth in the minors, inking right-handed reliever Jorge Juan to a minor league contract. He was assigned to Portland.
Juan, 26, logged six total innings for the Braves’ Single-A and Double-A affiliates this year before being released. He logged a 5.11 ERA in 37 innings at Double-A last season for Atlanta. Juan was originally an Oakland farmhand from 2018-2023.
