Former first-round pick breaks down decision to join Red Sox

3 hours ago 1

Last week, the Boston Red Sox signed left-handed pitcher Sean Newcomb to a minor-league deal with a camp invite.

The Middleboro, Massachusetts native was the 15th overall selection in the 2014 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2015 and debuted with the club in 2017.

Since then, he's spent time with the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, but now he's returning to his home state to play for his favorite team growing up.

“Kind of off the bat, I was feeling like it was time to give it a shot to try to sign with them,” Newcomb said (via. NESN). “It’s the dream and you don’t really ever lose that little piece where you want to play for your hometown team, especially coming and playing here as the visiting team it’s cool, but playing for the home team would always be fulfilling that dream. So, I was giving my agent a little bit of a push toward talking to the Sox... I was just leaning Red Sox the whole time."

Newcomb knows exactly what the Red Sox are and what they can be this year if everything works out right.

“Anytime you can join a team that’s looking to obviously win and be a competitor and be one of those big-market teams. Those are the teams that you want to play for. The teams that have the history and the fan base, all that kind of stuff,” Newcomb said. “It makes it a lot more exciting and been pretty lucky with that so far. I definitely want to be a part of that.”

The 31-year-old will have to be great in Spring Training to earn a roster spot, but he could serve as solid depth down at Triple-A Worcester if needed.