Boston Red Sox' New Leader Lays Out Current, Underwhelming Starting Rotation Plans

In a conversation with the Boston Globe, new Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow discussed the direction of the organization, and laid out what they plan on doing as of now in the starting rotation.

New Boston Red Sox' Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom delivered some underwhelming news on Tuesday with regards to the team's plan for the starting rotation in 2024.

Per The Boston Globe:

Breslow identified Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Nick Pivetta as being in the rotation, with Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Josh Winckowski competing for a spot.

A few different things are at play here:

1) The Red Sox have finished last in three of the last four seasons. The primary reason for the team's weaknesss has been the pitching staff, namely the starting rotation.

As a result of that, fans went into this offseason dreaming of Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Jordan Montomery in the free agent market, or Dylan Cease on the trade market. Based on Breslow's comments, none of those things seem close to happening.

Instead, the Sox appear slated to go with stopgap/questionable arms in the rotation. Giolito has a good resume but is coming off a down year and is a bounceback candidate. But can he do it? Houck and Whitlock have never proven they can sustain being an effective starter for a full 162 games.

2) Breslow also said this about Giolito:

But the Sox also identified what they feel are ways to “unlock” better quality from Giolito, who has a 4.96 ERA in 47 starts since the 2022 All-Star break.

“There was a natural marriage here,” Breslow said. “His work in the offseason aligned with our plan for him.”

Breslow and new pitching coach Andrew Bailey were brought in, in part, because of their ability to implement systems to help guys develop. Given that the Sox don't appear willing to spend at the top of the market or trade for a frontline starter, that internal development is going to be key, because it's basically all the team has at this point.

3) On the trade front:

“This conversation probably quickly bleeds into the overall direction of the club,” Breslow said, “and I don’t think it makes a ton of sense to give up some of our prospects for pitchers that don’t also come with a ton of control, just given the emergence of this young core around who we intend to build.”

So, yeah, the team won't be trading for starting pitchers like Dylan Cease or Corbin Burnes. The team also clearly isn't looking to fully invest in 2024 and this season could end up just like the last one did.

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