Ryan Sweeney is unemployed for the first time since he signed his first pro baseball contract as an 18-year-old kid in 2003.

The Red Sox cut him loose on Nov. 30 after one injury-plagued season in Boston and now he's a free agent, hopeful of finding a new club for 2013.

Several teams have expressed interest in the 6-foot-4, 225-pound outfielder from Cedar Rapids, but right now it's a waiting game to see what develops.

"It's weird being on this side of things now," he said Monday afternoon.

Sweeney, 27, reached the major leagues in 2006 with the Chicago White Sox when he was just 21 years old. He played in Oakland for four seasons and was traded to Boston last year, excited about playing in Fenway Park and getting a fresh start.

He got off to a good start and was collecting doubles at a rapid pace for the Red Sox, but tapered off and ran into a series of injuries. He missed seven games with a concussion in May, missed 18 games with a stress fracture in his big toe in June and missed three more games with a sore hamstring in July.

He went into a slump as a platoon player, then suffered an embarrassing injury when he socked a dugout door in frustration and fractured a knuckle on his throwing hand. That happened on July 31 and his season was over.

Sweeney apologized to the organization and apologized to Red Sox fans, who suffered through a disappointing season with the entire team.

"You literally have so much adrenaline when you're coming in there (the dugout), sometimes you don't even know what you're doing or saying," he said. "After the fact you're like, 'What the hell did I just do?'

"It was the wrong door to hit, I guess."

Sweeney appeared in 60 games during the 2012 campaign and hit .260 with no homers and 16 RBIs. Overall, he's hit .280 in his career in 535 games with 14 homers and 185 RBIs.

Sweeney became a dreaded "fourth outfielder" during his last year in Oakland in 2011, and it eventually became the same story in Boston. A left-handed hitter, he was used primarily against right-handed pitchers while playing as a substitute at all three spots in the outfield.

He would like to shed that "fourth outfielder" tag, and thinks one way to accomplish it will be to hit with more power and prove he can hit left-handed pitchers.

"I need to make adjustments," he said. "I was supposed to do it last year and I didn't.

"My agent is really good friends with Rod Carew, and I'm going to go down in January to L.A. and work out with him for a little while. He said he's watched my swing a lot and he seems to think he can help me out with a few mechanical things."

Carew was a Hall of Famer infielder with the Minnesota Twins and California Angles from 1967 to 1985 and was regarded as one of the best hitters in the game. He finished his career with a .328 batting average with 3,053 hits and 1,015 RBIs.

Sweeney hits with power in batting practice, but usually has tried to hit line drives to all parts of the park in games. As a platoon player, he felt like he needed to get base hits to stay in the lineup.

"When I do get in there, I don't want to get out," he explained. "And then you get out anyway, so why not just let it loose and try to go out there and pick your spots and try to drive the ball?"

The Red Sox explored the possibility of trading Sweeney at the all-star break and there were rumors he might join the Chicago Cubs, but it didn't happen. The Red Sox had until Nov. 30 to offer Sweeney a contract for 2013, but decided to turn him loose.

The Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, among others, apparently have expressed interest in signing Sweeney as a free agent. He might even return to Boston.

"They told me there's a possibility that they might try to sign me back," he said. "That can happen, so you just never know."

Sweeney bought a house in Cedar Rapids seven years ago and is currently back home. He and his wife, Natasha, are looking into the possibility of buying a home in Arizona. They rented a place in Boston and plan to rent this year once they know where he'll be playing.

"People are like, 'Who's interested in you?,' and it changes every couple of days," he said. "Essentially you're jobless. You're going to find a team eventually - hopefully - but you're kind of sitting by the phone, waiting."

Sweeney said he'd consider playing in either league, although he's spent his entire major league career in the American League. "I'm not opposed to anything," he said.

He'd like to find a winning team where he'd be a good fit on their roster, with the opportunity for ample playing time in a good stadium. He'd also like to get an attractive financial offer after making $1,750,000 with the Red Sox.

If he gets two or more offers, he might have to decide whether he wants to be a "fourth outfielder" on a contending ballclub or a starter on a rebuilding team.

"It's a tough decision to make," he said. "The bottom line is, whoever is playing the best is going to play. So if you go in there and you play well, you're going to start."

Baseball is a team sport, but first you have to make the team. "In a lot of ways it's an individual sport too, because you're your own business," he said. "You have to look out for yourself, because nobody is going to look out for you."

Sweeney said his agent, Larry Reynolds, is optimistic he'll get an attractive major league deal for the 2013 season. Sweeney is optimistic, too.

"I feel like it's going to come down to a couple of teams, and then hopefully you make the right decision," he said.

He does not anticipate being offered a multi-year contract at this point.

"I would think it would probably be one year, just because of the injury last year and people wanting to see if you're healthy and how you're doing," he said. "I'm 100 percent. I was fine at the end of the season. I'm fine now."

Now he's waiting for the phone to ring with good news.

"I'm not really nervous about it or anything," he said. "I hope it's going to happen, but who knows?

"It's a tough occupation, not knowing what you're going to be making every year. But I'm not really nervous about it. I'll be with someone. It just depends on who."