Bobby Jenks’ contract is terminated in Boston.
Written by Adrian Gregory Glover // July 3, 2012 // MLB // No comments
The career of Bobby Jenks got off on the wrong foot when the right-hander was not allowed to play a lot of high school baseball due to his poor academic performance.
Book ending that and his release today from the Boston Red Sox has been good times, bad times and more than a couple of rowdy moments.
After putting his name on a two-year $12 million dollar 2011 deal with the Red Sox, Jenks failed to live up to his All-Star form appearing in only 12 outings.
You can chalk some of that up to dual back surgeries and the rest up to the attitude behind his spring training arrest for DUI, property damage and hit-and-run.
Even when he was on the mound, he never had the edge in Boston that he displayed in Chicago as a member of the White Sox.
Jenks ran up a long list of accolades there and it was seemingly a spat with then-manager Ozzie Guillen that sent things down the wrong path.
In what really did feel like a story line that was written for Rick Flair, Guillen teed off on Jenks as he landed in Boston with statements like “I will rip his guts” after Jenks stated his displeasure with Guillen after departing.
“We lied for him, we protected him. I’m the first manager in the history of baseball to give a guy a week off to take care of his kids when his father-in-law was sick.”
And after all of that? Jenks sputtered out like a dying balloon as Guillen got a new gig in Miami telling Fidel Castro jokes.
Jenks and the Red Sox reached a contract termination settlement that placed him on unconditional release waivers.
It was not that long ago when Jenks was excited to arrive in Boston according to an interview that ran in the Chicago Tribune.
“The Red Sox were the third or fourth team we talked to,” Jenks said.”When we found out we were going to have an opportunity here, I didn’t want to talk to anyone else.”
And now it’s doubtful that even if he is healthy again that anyone else wants to talk to him about a new deal.
The 31-year old has a career ERA of 3.53 with 351 strikeouts and a 173 saves.
