Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Among Group Of Suitors Targeting Second-Tier Pitching Market

Boston could use some sort of rotation boost

Scott Neville

Red Sox Among Group Of Suitors Targeting Second-Tier Pitching Market
Red Sox Among Group Of Suitors Targeting Second-Tier Pitching Market /
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The Boston Red Sox appear to be content with punting on the 2024 season despite consecutive last-place finishes in the American League East. 

Members of both ownership and the front office have come out in recent days to temper expectations and talk about how tough it is to acquire starting pitching -- give me a break.

Despite the Red Sox being Jordan Montgomery and Jorge Soler/Justin Turner away from genuine contention, Boston is going to be bad on purpose until Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel arrive at the big-league level. 

With that said, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow seemingly is at least interested in adding one more serviceable arm to the mix before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than a month.

The Red Sox will be among many suitors for the second-tier starting pitching market as described by the New York Post's Jon Heyman, who listed old friend James Paxton as well as Hyun-jin Ryu, Michael Lorenzen and Brandon Woodruff -- who is expected to miss the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury.

Heyman noted the Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners as players for the aforementioned bunch.

Woodruff would be a fantastic acquisition on a two-year deal but would not help the club for the upcoming season. 

Lorenzon (9-9, 4.18 ERA) is the strongest healthy option of the bunch with Paxton (7-5, 4.50) lagging right behind. Ryu is the high-risk, high-reward play after logging just 17 starts in the last two seasons but holding a career 3.27 ERA entering his age-37 season. 

If the Red Sox did land any of these arms, it would notably raise the team's floor but their reluctance to sign Montgomery remains puzzling. 

More MLB: Red Sox Ownership Blames Craig Breslow For Lack Of Spending This Winter

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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