Red Sox: Who will be the starting pitcher on Opening Day?

Red Sox Free agent/Trade:

Really anything can happen in the next three weeks. The Red Sox can definitely use another starter due to the lack of depth.

If for some reason Eduardo Rodriguez can’t play this season or anyone else gets sick or hurt, the Red Sox would be down to three proven starters. The loss of a starter would definitely affect the rotation to a great extent. They already don’t know if Ryan Weber can consistently pitch well out of the rotation. If he can’t, the Red Sox would already have one bullpen game out of every five games.

It seems that the Red Sox are not looking to spend a lot of money in order to avoid the luxury tax. So, the Red Sox making a big signing or trade would not be expected.

If they are looking to sign a starter to a small one-year deal, there are a few pitchers still available. Wei-Yin Chen, Jason Vargas, Danny Salazar, and former Red Sox ace Clay Buchholz are just a few names up to grab. One of these guys can definitely help eat up innings for Boston.

The trade route is another opportunity for the Red Sox to acquire a starter. Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman are two players that the Red Sox could look to get for just the 2020 season.

Ultimately, it’s probably not going to happen unless some active pitcher in the rotation becomes unavailable. Knowing the Red Sox, at this moment, they would probably not want to spend any more money than they have to. They already made it clear that avoiding the luxury tax is a goal of theirs. It isn’t completely out of the question though.

Likelihood: Very unlikely

Percent chance: 5%