The 2023 Boston Red Sox roster currently has more question marks than the Riddler’s outfit.
Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers? The starting rotation? Bullpen? Qualifying Offers? Free agents? Trades? Prospects? So much to do, but what will they do? And how will they do it?
Only time will tell.
But Red Sox legend and current special assistant, Pedro Martinez, might be giving fans a clue as to whether or not a certain pitcher will be back in 2023. Speaking to Sports Illustrated this week, the Hall of Famer kept talking about Nathan Eovaldi, who is currently set to become a free agent when the World Series ends:
"“We have Nathan Eovaldi, not at 100%, who could be a number two, number three. Chris Sale, who’s the number one hasn’t been healthy lately. So he needs a little bit of breathing room. And we need that guy that needs to be durable, is going to give you an opportunity to win and can be matched up against any other ace from any other team. So I would like to see the Red Sox find a top-notch pitcher to take some of the load off Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and the rest of the young staff that we can actually train to be somewhat of an ace, number two, number three, another one could be a vacuum cleaner — those guys that pitch a lot of innings.”"
The way Martinez is talking, you’d think Eovaldi is going to be here next year.
Maybe he is.
After all, Martinez has been with the organization as a special assistant for a decade. He’s spoken about which pitchers he plans to work with in spring training in a few months, and which ones won’t need his guidance as much. He mentioned Eovaldi in that latter category, too.
Eovaldi could receive a Qualifying Offer from the Sox later this month, or more likely, a lower AAV contract for one or two years, laden with escalators and incentives.
Whether this is the end or not, Eovaldi will go down as one of the greatest trade deadline acquisitions and postseason heroes in franchise history.