Red Sox Free Agency: Five high-profile players to avoid
By Sean Penney
Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish is the top starting pitcher on the market but nowhere to be found on Boston’s wishlist.
This is no knock on the Japanese hurler. Darvish owns a career 3.42 ERA and routinely finds his name near the top of the strikeout leader boards with a 11.0 K/9 through five major league seasons. He’s a four-time All-Star who has finished inside the top-10 in Cy Young voting twice.
Some team is going to shell out big money for Darvish, it just won’t be the Red Sox. This isn’t about his talent, as the same goes for any of the top starting pitchers on the market. Darvish simply doesn’t fill the team’s most pressing need.
Boston’s rotation is well stocked with Chris Sale and Drew Pomeranz coming off stellar seasons. A healthy David Price will return to a starting role and has the ability to become a third ace on this staff. Rick Porcello‘s Cy Young season was clearly a mirage but he’s a far better pitcher than the one we saw last year and he should bounce back enough to a solid fourth starter. Eduardo Rodriguez still has tantalizing upside if he can ever get that knee healthy. He’ll begin the season on the disabled list but Steven Wright can hold down the back end of the rotation until he’s ready. If the knuckleball pitcher returns to his All-Star form of 2016 then E-Rod may find it challenging to take back his spot in the rotation.
The Red Sox have already paid a hefty price for pitching on both the free agent and trade markets over the last couple of years. There is no room for another high-profile starter and their financial resources are better served bolstering the lineup.
We can’t rule out a low-cost starter being signed for depth purposes but Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn and any other expensive starting pitcher should be off the radar.