The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with several needs.
Starting pitching was one of them, even more so after dealing Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves.
Since they lost James Paxton and Corey Kluber to free agency, too, it’s clear that Boston needs more arms.
They did well to bring in Lucas Giolito on a multi-year deal to headline the rotation, but they need more.
They were reportedly in on Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga before he committed his future to the Chicago Cubs, and were also interested in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and other targets.
As former general manager and current analyst Jim Bowden says, they have also been involved in trade talks.
The Red Sox have made moves, signings, and trades.
However, Bowden doubts they are really in a better spot than when the season ended and wonders if they will have the guts to pay free-agent pitchers the market rate to land them.
“@JimBowdenGM with the latest on the Red Sox search for pitching: ‘The Red Sox have made a lot of moves this offseason but I’m not sure their major-league team is any better than it was when the season ended. They’ve had trade discussions with the White Sox regarding Cease, but those have never gotten any traction. They touched base with the Brewers on Corbin Burnes and that went nowhere, and they had a conversation with the Marlins about Jesús Luzardo that also came up empty,’” Red Sox insider Tyler Milliken tweeted, with Bowden’s quotes.
.@JimBowdenGM with the latest on the Red Sox search for pitching:
"The Red Sox have made a lot of moves this offseason but I’m not sure their major-league team is any better than it was when the season ended. They’ve had trade discussions with the White Sox regarding Cease, but… pic.twitter.com/GNOAFyrzcp
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) January 10, 2024
Bowden also explained that while free agency is probably the Red Sox’s best bet, it’s unclear if Boston can stomach paying the price for an ace or a top starter.
Yamamoto signed for a whopping $325 million, and Blake Snell, the best remaining starter, might approach $200 million.
Good pitching costs a lot of money, and the Red Sox appear to be learning that the hard way.
