In a report from the Boston Herald, Ben Cherington has said that the Sox aren’t expecting to make any big moves before the start of the season.
After missing out on the Jon Lester sweepstakes, the Red Sox added Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson to the rotation. This left the Red Sox without a true ace. With the plethora of young talent, both in the majors and minors, many expected called for the Red Sox to make a move for a number one starter.
Rumors have linked the Red Sox to Phillies pitcher, Cole Hamels for months. However, the Phillies have been adamant about getting high-end, young talent along the lines of Blake Swihart or Mookie Betts, which is too high of an asking price for the team.
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While rumors have continued to swirl throughout spring training, Cherington seems to have finally put them all to rest, saying, “The biggest thing is, you’ve put all this together. So there’s a sense of, give it a chance to see what it can do. Most teams want to see what they have and see the fruits of that. You’re still talking and exchanging information, but it’s a lot more, ‘Yeah, we feel all right, and we’ll see how it looks when it gets into the season.”
Is the Red Sox rotation good enough to compete for a championship right now? Probably not. Looking back on the World Series winners for the past decade, each team has had one, if not two great pitchers to help carry them through the playoffs. Last year was Madison Bumgarner, the year before John Lester and three years ago was Matt Cain. The list goes on.
The “ace” of he Red Sox staff right now is , Rick Porcello, but he is more of a number 2 rather than an ace. Don’t get me wrong, I love Porcello and I think he has a great future but if I’m facing a game 7, I want someone who can overpower the other team and set the team up for a win.
Do the Sox need to add a pitcher at some point this season? I think they do. We didn’t spend all this money in the offseason to not contend. While history may say that you need an ace to win the World Series, there isn’t anything that suggests you can’t win your division or make the playoffs without one. Look at last year alone, with the Orioles, Pirates, Royals and Angels all making the playoffs despite not having a true ace.
Why pay for a full season of a player when we won’t need them to be competitive in season? We can easily add a guy like Johnny Cueto at the deadline for a much lower cost than making the move right now. The Reds aren’t going to be competing for a division title and most likely won’t be in the market to lock him up long term. Look for him to be on the market come July.
Trade rumors surrounding pitchers should quiet down for a while with this new. The Red Sox might be involved in a deal to move some of the excess outfield talent they have, but come July they will begin to enter into more conversations surrounding starting pitching.