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Red Sox Winter Meetings: Predictions for five biggest questions

By Tim Starr

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 27: John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino share a laugh as Lucchino was being honored for his last home game as Red Sox CEO/President before a game against the Baltimore Orioles Fenway Park on September 27, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 27: John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino share a laugh as Lucchino was being honored for his last home game as Red Sox CEO/President before a game against the Baltimore Orioles Fenway Park on September 27, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 08: Starting pitcher Rick Porcello #22 of the Boston Red Sox pitches at the top of the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on September 08, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 08: Starting pitcher Rick Porcello #22 of the Boston Red Sox pitches at the top of the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on September 08, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /

The Red Sox have a hole in the back-end of the rotation with Rick Porcello hitting free agency. While there is interest in bringing him back to Boston, there are definitely other options on the free agent and trade market.

Free agents that are available include pitchers such as Tanner Roark, Wade Miley, Dallas Keuchel, Martin Perez, among others. With the health definitely being the primary weakness of the starting staff, the Red Sox need a starter who can eat lots of innings.

Also, with the bullpen failing at the beginning of the season due to fatigue from the stress created by the lack of innings pitched by the rotation, the Red Sox need a fifth starter in the worst way. Porcello is a great choice as he flashed his potential in 2016 by winning the AL Cy Young and averaging just shy of 200 innings a season during his tenure with Boston.

It will be interested how Chaim Bloom deals with adding depth to the starting rotation as he shouldn’t divert too much money there as he needs to allocate it to other areas of the team. On the other hand, improving the starting rotation could inadvertently make the bullpen pitch better for the entirety of the regular and hopefully, postseason.

Prediction: Red Sox bring back Rick Porcello on an incentives based deal

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