Red Sox $7.5 Million Hurler Projected To Defect To Angels After Walker Buehler Deal

Will Boston make any attempt to bring this righty back?

Aug 1, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Los Angeles Angels hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox may have a full house when it comes to the starting rotation.

Signing Walker Buehler gives the Red Sox six viable big-league starters, with a ton of Triple-A depth behind them. Buehler, Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, and Brayan Bello are rotation locks, with Kutter Crawford likely holding down the fifth slot if Lucas Giolito begins the season on the injured list?

So does that mean the Red Sox are done adding starting pitching? Quite possibly, and that leaves one member of the 2024 Boston rotation looking for a new home.

Nick Pivetta, who played out his final year of arbitration on a $7.5 million salary in 2024, declined the Red Sox's $21.05 million qualifying offer in November. After signing Buehler for the exact salary they offered Pivetta, the Red Sox probably won't be making any more calls to Pivetta's agent.

But where will Pivetta go? Content creator Robbie Hyde recently speculated in a YouTube video that the 32-year-old righty could land with the Los Angeles Angels, who have been trying to rebuild their rotation with the additions of Yusei Kikuchi and Dakota Hudson.

"I think Pivetta is one of the more underrated guys on the market this year," Hyde said. "This is a guy you can depend on--over the last few years he ranks in the top 25 percent in innings pitched. He's a workhorse kind of guy."

"I think the Angels still need to add some pitching after adding Yusei Kikuchi."

In five years with the Red Sox, Pivetta had a 4.29 ERA and 37-41 record, but he always showed flashes of dominant potential. He had five 10-plus-strikeout outings in 2024, including two games in which he punched out eight batters in a row, and he was one of the top pitchers in all of baseball in the Stuff+ metric.

Thanks to the qualifying offer, the Red Sox would also land a draft pick at the end of the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft if Pivetta signs elsewhere.

It's possible Pivetta could unlock a new gear with his new team, though the Angels in particular have not had much success developing starting pitchers through the years. But he had enough time to figure it out in Boston, and it's no longer worth the risk of trying to harness his raw stuff with the Red Sox.

More MLB: Red Sox Predicted To Follow Walker Buehler Deal With $50 Million All-Star Closer