Red Sox to attend showcases for potential buy-low pitching

The Red Sox will attend Julio Teheran and Anibal Sanchez’s showcases

The Boston Red Sox organization is an enigma in the sense that on one hand, they appear to have a plan while also seeming to lack one. The news feed of all following entails nothing more than “The Boston Red Sox have interest in” (Insert name here).

In the team’s latest unclear pursuit of stabilizing talent for the rotation, the Red Sox are expected to be among the teams scouting the showcases of two veteran pitchers in Julio Teheran and Anibal Sanchez, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.

The idea of taking a look at some hurlers who could potentially play a role at some point in the season rectifies the idea of taking the time to keep an eye on all potential solutions to the rotation’s glaring needs. However, Boston currently has nearly eight arms competing for spots in the rotation at present, and there has been little chatter on adding any game-changing arms to the bullpen.

Perhaps adding extra arms is the organization’s first priority, one could even speculate the former rotation arms could thrive in a long-relief role. Even so, those not affiliated with the organization have nothing more to do than carefully piece together the current roster with the labyrinth approach that appears to have been taken to this point.

The news of Teheran and Sanchez came just a day after the Red Sox re-signed starting pitcher Martin Perez. The left-hander quickly became a fan-favorite regardless of his performance, as the pitcher ended the season with an underwhelming 4.50 ERA over 62 innings pitched. That being said, the expectation was that Boston would shift into full gear on the heels of the team’s first major league transaction of January. 

After the trade had initially been reported Saturday evening, WEEI’s Rob Bradford wrote a quick piece on the pick-up and noted in a tweet that the Perez signing had taken some “very real candidates out of (the) mix.” At first glance, the statement appeared to be angled more towards other back-end starters. While this still may be the candidates mentioned above, Boston still appears to be in on some other arms that fit the profile that Perez has just reclaimed.

The ultimate question is what exactly is Boston going to do to get better, and who are those candidates that are no longer in the conversation? It would be hard to believe that signing Perez back would rule out signing Jake Odorizzi. The Red Sox have been known to be in search of a right-handed pitcher considering the growing list of southpaws in the rotation. Odorizzi, a right-hander, still certainly fits the bill as a pitcher with a solid track record who can be had in the vicinity of Boston’s presumed asking price.

Evaluating every possibility to improve the team is by no means something to shame, but an underlying element like failure to act on the wide array of interests the organization has shown is another thing to be worried about. If the team truly wants to compete in 2021, there must be at least one or more acquisitions via trade or free-agency that is more than just a hopeful bounce-back. A true and proven player must be added to the stable to keep the balance heading into the upcoming season.