Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Listed As Overwhelming Favorites To Land Frontline Starter By Oddsmaker

Boston could desperately use the southpaw

Scott Neville

Red Sox Listed As Overwhelming Favorites To Land Frontline Starter By Oddsmaker
Red Sox Listed As Overwhelming Favorites To Land Frontline Starter By Oddsmaker /
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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been on the hunt to improve the pitching staff this offseason, aiming to add multiple starting pitchers.

Thus far, there has yet to be any activity but at least one oddsmaker believes the Red Sox are in a strong position to land a notable starter.

The Red Sox are listed as the overwhelming favorites to sign left-hander Jordan Montgomery according to the oddsmakers at BetOnline. Boston enters with +125 odds (44.44% implied chance) to land the intriguing 30-year-old hurler, who is set for a notable payday. 

The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals are tied for the second-best odds at +300 (25%). The New York Yankees are the only other organization listed as realistically in the race with +500 odds (16.67%).

Montgomery posted a 3.20 ERA with a 166-to-48 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .247 batting average against and 1.19 WHIP in 188 2/3 innings between his time with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers.

It makes a lot of sense for the Red Sox to be listed as high as they are. Boston reportedly has Montgomery ahead of all other stateside starters on the market -- trailing only Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

At this juncture, it would be hard to feel great about the Red Sox landing the Japanese superstar with so many other big-market suitors in the mix. If they do fail to sign Yamamoto, it seems highly likely they turn all their attention to Montgomery. 

Breslow is expected to make a splash this winter. Montgomery appears to be the most logical player to fit the description in a pitcher-heavy market.

More MLB: Marlins Open To Dealing Frontline Starter, Red Sox Floated As Landing Spot

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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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