Report: Red Sox Release Brett Netzer After Racist, Anti-Trans, Antisemitic Tweets

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Brett Netzer, a second baseman in the Boston Red Sox minor league system, has been released by the team after posting a series of racist, anti-gay and antisemitic tweets.

Chad Jennings of The Athletic reported Netzer’s release Saturday.

After not posting anything since a retweet on Dec. 18, Netzer went on a tirade in which he made a series of comments that began with antisemitic comments about Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.

Netzer went on to say anyone who is transgender “and their partner does not know, and sexual actions have taken place, is a rapist and a sexual molester.”

Those comments were followed by a tweet stating that Black people should “go back to their roots and start to re-establish their true black culture- not the fake bulls–t in america.”

Per Jesse Yomtov of USA Today, Netzer wrote “release me” over a screengrab of his tweets that was posted on his Instagram story. In response to a tweet GIF calling him a racist, he acknowledged his racism:

Netzer was placed on the restricted list by the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston’s Double-A affiliate) on May 4, 2021. The restricted list is used for players who are out of organized baseball but are not free agents.

Teams can request a player be placed on the restricted list if they leave the club without a valid reason or if a player is unable to play because of non-baseball reasons.

Netzer’s last game was on Sept. 2, 2019, with the Sea Dogs when he was used as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth in an 8-7 loss to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.