Along with their need for a power bat, the Boston Red Sox will pursue more pitching depth this offseason. The Red Sox in 2026 had one of the best pitching staffs in the league and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow hopes to keep it that way, he said in a pre-GM meetings interview with Sean McAdam of MassLive.
In regards to the rotation, he's off to a good start, with Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez and Jake Bennett returning with a healthy Garrett Crochet expected. Sonny Gray, Boston's de facto ace in 2026, has already hit free agency and is not expected to return to the Sox.
All of the Red Sox's remaining starters are left-handed. Though they have some internal right-handed options, Breslow's depth comments make it sound like they'll pursue a new righty on the free agent or trade market.
Boston's internal righties are unreliable, and given the lack of impact from its offense last season, it needs the best pitching possible. Brayan Bello is right-handed, but his struggles out of the rotation last season could mean the Red Sox don't trust him there anymore (although he did show promise late in the season).
Craig Breslow hopes for optionable pitching depth to improve Red Sox rotation
Tanner Houck spent over a year on the injured list between the 2025-26 seasons and made one (Game 162) desperation start. The Red Sox can't bank on him to post anything like Gray's numbers with Boston. The same goes with Kutter Crawford, who hasn't appeared in the major leagues since 2024 due to multiple injuries in succession. He might even be a non-tender candidate because he's played so little lately.
Before he spoke with Breslow about his goals for the GM meetings, McAdam said he didn't think the Red Sox would shell out for a front-of-the-rotation arm to truly supplement the loss of Gray to free agency. The strength of Boston's rotation, even without Gray, means it doesn't need another elite arm.
Breslow mentioned that he sees optionable pitching depth as highly valuable, which means he could seek a young, controllable hurler off the trade market. MLB Trade Rumors named righties Carmen Mlodzinski (one option remaining, under team control until 2030) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Will Warren (two options remaining, under team control until 2031) of the New York Yankees as top trade candidates and they could be interesting options for the Sox. Breslow has a history of trading with the Pirates, run by former Red Sox exec Ben Cherington. It would be tough to trade for Warren because the Yankees would charge a serious in-division markup, if they're willing to trade him to the Red Sox at all. But these two teams have been making deals in recent years.
It makes sense for the Red Sox to go the trade route to find just the pitcher Breslow wants given the strength of the rest of the rotation and the relatively underwhelming nature of this year's free agent class. But if Breslow seeks an optionable pitcher with years of control on their contract, they won't come cheap.
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