The Boston Red Sox on Saturday released prospect Brett Netzer over the disturbing content of several tweets he published on Friday and Saturday.
Netzer was a third-round pick by the Red Sox out of UNC Charlotte in 2017. He doesn’t tweet very often and has a small account with very few followers. However, he sent several tweets over the last 24 hours that caught attention.
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497610255446036481
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497584016408649733
He also went after Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom.
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497423772550197249
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497560163850637327
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497614508885479432
Netzer seemed to be angling for his own release. He reposted a few of his tweets on the Instagram Story for his verified Instagram account and said “release me.”
After verifying that Netzer was not hacked, the Red Sox released him.
I’m told the Red Sox have officially released former third-round pick Brett Netzer following a series of racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic posts on Twitter.
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) February 26, 2022
Netzer posted a photo and video from his Twitter account to confirm the tweets were coming from him.
Netzer agreed that some of his tweets were racist and homophobic, but disagreed with the anti-Semitic characterization of his remarks.
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497654154789072896
https://twitter.com/BrettNetzer/status/1497646611014590464
Netzer, 25, was a career .351 hitter in college and played second base. He last played in AA ball for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2019, batting .247 with 24 doubles and eight home runs. He spent the 2021 season on the restricted list.
