The Boston Red Sox have placed Mark Kotsay on waivers to make room for the recently-acquired Adam LaRoche, this according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

If no team claims the 33-year-old Kotsay within the next 48 hours, the Red Sox have to option to either release him or assign him to the minor leagues.

Kotsay played 27 games this season, batting .257 with one home run and five RBI's.

This move comes as no surprise, after acquiring LaRoche the Red Sox had the option of either placing Kotsay on waivers or going to an 11 man pitching staff, but in a brutal AL East Kotsay seemed like the easy choice.

Kotsay was a popular player around the clubhouse in Boston, and appeared to be well received by Red Sox fans because of his ability to play multiple positions, and play above-average defense.

Kotsay signed a one-year $1.5 million contract with the Red Sox this offseason, which would have made him a free agent after the season. It's likely that Kotsay wouldn't have been retained next season even prior to the Red Sox adding LaRoche.