Rob Refsnyder can breathe a little easier this week after reportedly agreeing to a one-year deal with the Red Sox.
The utilityman has spent his seven MLB seasons with six different teams and this will be the first time since 2017 that he’s back with the same squad.
Refsnyder joined Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “The Bradfo Sho” and talked about what life is like for a journeyman and how it feels to find a home in Boston.
“I was very hopeful. My family loved the city of Boston. It was a great fit from the start. The players are great. Everyone top to bottom it really is a world-class organization and kind of being a journeyman you see a lot of different organizations and sometimes you’re treated differently and not to say it’s a bad way, it’s just different. Every organization is different.”
Refsnyder said that he was very hopeful at the end and it started getting exciting over the past week as the negotiations came to a head.
“You try not to stare at your phone when it gets closer and things like that but once it started getting a little bit more serious I was really just trying to enjoy the moment with my wife,” he said. “It still feels a little surreal, to be honest.”
Refsnyder was a Yankees prospect and has been the definition of a journeyman since. He’s had stops in Tampa Bay, Texas, and Minnesota – along with time in the minors in Cincinnati and Arizona – before landing in Boston.
“There’s so much uncertainty during this time of the year with my career the past couple of years so to have it not finalized, but to have a little bit clearer picture in November, it’s definitely odd but it’s a nice feeling.”
In past years, Refsnyder would be staring at his phone hoping that a call or text came his way. This year, it’s a different feeling for the soon-to-be second-year Red Sox.
“You never really want to get unknown phone numbers, let’s just say that, as a journeyman,” Refsnyder said. “You can ask a lot of players that have been in my position before. If you get an unknown phone calls around this time of the year it’s usually a DFA or a ‘See you later’ kind of thing, ‘Thanks for all your contributions’ kind of things like that. So when you get familiar phone numbers and texts that you recognize it’s a lot better. … Unknown phone numbers, that’s a DFA coming for sure,” he laughed.
Refsnyder battled injuries but managed to hit .307 with a .811 OPS in 57 games in 2022. He will look to build on that with the Red Sox heading into 2023.
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