Red Sox among crowded group seeking starting pitching in free agency

The Red Sox are among several teams seeking free-agent starters

The Boston Red Sox are in the market for starting pitching to upgrade their woeful rotation. Unfortunately, they’ll have plenty of competition.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand mentions the Red Sox among the teams making the biggest push to sign free-agent starting pitchers, a list which also includes the Mets, Blue Jays, White Sox, Padres, Giants and Rays. The Twins, Marlins, and Reds are also expected to be in the market for a starter, plus the Angels could join the mix.

That’s more than one-third of the league competing for talent in a pool with limited resources. Of the 22 starting pitchers listed among the top 50 in the MLB Trade Rumors free-agent predictions, six are already off the board.

Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman never hit the open market after accepting qualifying offers. Mike Minor (Royals, 2-year, $18 million), Charlie Morton (Braves, 1-year, $15 million), Drew Smyly (Braves, $1-year, 11 million), and Robbie Ray (Blue Jays, 1-year, $8 million) all signed relatively quickly for short money.

That leaves at least 11 teams competing for the top 16 starting pitchers on the market. We can’t ignore the possibility of a mystery team joining the mix and some teams might be looking to add multiple starters, perhaps including the Red Sox.

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Of those 16 remaining starters, seven rank in the 35-50 range on the MLBTR projections. Many of them are aging veterans or reclamation projects grouped together at the bottom of the list. You’re scraping the bottom of the barrel once you get outside of that top-50 and into the honorable mentions section.

Several of the more coveted names on the list come with significant injury red flags after missing most of the 2020 season, including Corey Kluber and James Paxton. The mid-tier of this class includes pitchers who bounced back strong this year but have spotty track records in the health department, such as Taijuan Walker and Garrett Richards.

All of this is to say that the options are more limited than they appear on the surface. Unless a team is wiling to shell out a massive offer and surrender their second-highest draft pick to sign Trevor Bauer, there are few remaining free-agent starters who performed well this year and aren’t carrying significant injury risk.

There are still some appealing arms on the market and some of those risky options are worth rolling the dice on with a short-term deal. Those pitchers could come off the board quickly with the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players approaching, which will solidify the free-agent market and provide clarity to teams regarding their roster and payroll situation.

The Red Sox need to strike quickly to address their rotation needs, especially if they intend to add multiple starters to improve the shaky depth of their staff. The patient approach can sometimes lead to finding the best value but in this case it could leave teams fighting for scraps. Free agency is a game of musical chairs and the Red Sox can’t afford to be the one left without a seat.