There was good news for the Sweeney family Friday when Kellen Sweeney was assigned to the Lansing Lugnuts in the Midwest League.

His older brother Ryan, however, is still looking for a place to play this season after not making the 25-man roster for the Boston Red Sox.

Kellen Sweeney hit only .179 in 43 games for Lansing last season, but he'll get a chance to redeem himself this year with the Lugnuts as a Class A farmhand with the Toronto Blue Jays.

It also means his family and friends from Cedar Rapids will get a chance to see him play in his hometown this season. Lansing is scheduled to play a three-game series against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Veterans Memorial Stadium on April 28, 29 and 30.

Kellen Sweeney, a 21-year-old third baseman, was demoted from Lansing to Vancouver last season after his slow start in the Midwest League. He hit .229 in 67 games at Vancouver and finished the 2012 campaign with a combined batting average of .210 with five homers and 41 RBIs.

Now that Kellen Sweeney has a place to play, the family is waiting to find out what will happen with 28-year-old Ryan Sweeney.

Ryan Sweeney hit .260 during an injury-plagued season in Boston last season. The Red Sox released him during the off-season, but he ultimately reached a new agreement with the Red Sox and was invited to spring training to try to make the club again.

He hit only .217 in spring training and was told Thursday night that he would not be on the 25-man roster for Opening Day. Sweeney has informed the Red Sox he will not accept a minor league assignment -- he has that right with seven years of Major League experience -- and his agent has been working the phones in search of a new team.

Sweeney is an excellent outfielder who can play left field, center field and right field. He even volunteered to play another position for Boston.

"I asked them if they wanted me to play first base when I came to camp and they said 'no,'" he told the Boston Herald.

Sweeney is naturally disappointed he did not make the grade in Boston.

"Sure, especially with this coaching staff and this group of guys, I wanted to be a part of it," he told the Herald. "So now we'll just see what happens."

Sweeney is a career .280 hitter in the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and Boston, but he's hit only 14 home runs in 535 games despite being a big, strong guy at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds.

Both Sweeney brothers were second-round draft picks, Ryan in 2003 by the White Sox and Kellen in 2010 by Toronto.