Red Sox Would Be Wise To Invest In Multi-Time All-Star Starter Despite Injury

Boston could make a smart play for the future

Scott Neville | Nov 21, 2023

Red Sox Would Be Wise To Invest In Multi-Time All-Star Starter Despite Injury /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox need to focus the bulk of their efforts on building up a rotation that can power them to the postseason in 2024.

With that said, one of the smarter moves Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could make this offseason would be to make a play for an injured frontline starter to bolster the rotation for 2025 and possibly beyond.

The Milwaukee Brewers notably non-tendered right-hander Brandon Woodruff, one of the top starters in the game.

The 30-year-old was entering his final year of team control and is expected to be out for the season with a shoulder injury that required surgery. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that his timeline could be anywhere from six to 18 months after the surgery in October. The Brewers' actions imply the latter.

Woodruff went 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 74-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .172 batting average against and a 0.82 WHIP in 67 innings in 2023. He has a career 3.10 ERA across seven seasons and has been a reliable performer for years.

The Red Sox almost certainly will end up with at least one high-end starter this winter. They'll also likely add a legitimate No. 2 or No. 3 hurler. Assuming they do so, adding Woodruff would set them up to have an elite pitching staff in a couple of seasons.

Signing Woodruff now has a few advantages. The right-hander would have a year to rehab at Boston's facilities before beginning his tenure with the Red Sox -- similar to James Paxton in 2022 (though that was not the original plan).

Woodruff's contract would likely include lower pay in 2024, which would benefit luxury tax purposes -- the measurement uses average annual value. While the Red Sox would take a hit in Year 1 of the deal, it would be discounted for Year 2 and possibly beyond.

More importantly, Woodruff is a really good pitcher, one Boston could desperately use. He's going to get a multi-year offer this winter and the Red Sox should be just as involved in his market as other premier hurlers.

More MLB: Blue Jays All-Star Reportedly Available; Red Sox Are Logical Trade Partners

Published Nov 21, 2023

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