Could Mets Be Red Sox's Last Hope To Land Draft Pick For Nick Pivetta?

Will Pivetta find his New York groove?

Aug 26, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (37) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are still holding out hope of collecting draft compensation for the loss of starting pitcher Nick Pivetta.

After Pivetta rejected the Red Sox's qualifying offer, Boston pivoted to signing Walker Buehler to complete their rotation, knowing they were due a late second-round pick once Pivetta signed elsewhere. But the righty's market isn't budging, and the teams interested wouldn't be able to avoid surrendering a draft pick to sign him until Jun. 2.

Obviously, Pivetta is the one hurt most by the scenario in which he has to wait until midseason, because he wouldn't have a team to play for. But the Red Sox losing out on the draft pick that they thought they would have in the bag wouldn't be an ideal outcome, either.

Which team, if any, might still have an interest in acquiring Pivetta, even with the pick forfeiture that comes with it?

Jon Morosi of MLB Network recently opined that the New York Mets could justify making such an expenditure, due to the strength of their farm system and the fact that they surrendered their first-round pick already to nab superstar free agent Juan Soto, who also had a qualifying offer attached.

"(The Mets) have already had to give up their pick for signing Juan Soto. At that point, the next marginal penalty for signing a QO player becomes further diminished," Morosi said.

"In the case of the Mets, we already saw them make some moves to help boost their farm system at the 2023 trade deadline, so perhaps they're a bit more comfortable with that expenditure of the money and the pick if, in fact, they went the route of signing Pivetta."

Pivetta, 32, may have made a miscalculation based on the promise he's shown despite mediocre stats. He posted a 4.14 ERA in 145 innings this season, but because his strikeout total and swing-and-miss rates were high, he believed he'd land a more favorable deal than the one-year, $21 million qualifying offer.

Whether it's the Mets or someone unexpected, the Red Sox are simply crossing their fingers at this point in hopes that someone will like Pivetta's profile enough to justify letting go of a valuable draft selection.

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