The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason hoping to retain left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.
When that didn’t happen, the club had no choice but to start looking elsewhere for a rotation arm, and Steven Matz was one guy on Boston’s radar.
The Red Sox were frequently mentioned as possible suitors for the 30-year-old.
But Matz recently made his decision, and he won’t be spending the 2022 season in a Red Sox uniform.
Instead, he’ll be throwing pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals
This leaves Boston with some major rotation question marks.
How can the club address that issue?
Here’s What Boston’s Rotation Looks Like Right Now
Boston’s rotation looks very thin right now.
At best, the team can say it has four starters in place.
Those guys are Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Tanner Houck.
Houck spent some of the 2021 season as a reliever, though, and it seems like the Red Sox would rather use him in that capacity for now.
Given that, it seems like Boston would be wise to sign two starters this offseason.
The club could probably get by with just one rotation addition, but two would be ideal.
With Matz off the market, who else could the Red Sox go after?
Let’s take a look.
Here Are Some Free-Agent Pitching Options For The Red Sox
Even with a few key names off the board, this free-agent class is still loaded with quality starting pitchers.
If the Red Sox want to swing for the fences, they could target the likes of Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodon, and Marcus Stroman.
Stroman has been pretty active on Twitter amid his free-agent sweepstakes, and he shouted out Red Sox fans for their recruiting efforts to get him to Boston.
Stroman would be a fantastic addition for the Red Sox, as would any of the starters listed above.
But if the team would rather ink an arm that would likely require less of a financial commitment, there are plenty of free agents who fit that description.
Rich Hill, Danny Duffy, and Corey Kluber are a few of them.
Each of those guys would come with risks (i.e. health and/or age concerns), but all three showed in 2021 that they still have some gas left in the tank.
It might be worth rolling the dice on one of them.
In an ideal offseason, the Red Sox would sign one of the superstar arms listed earlier in addition to adding one of the mid-tier guys we just talked about.
That would provide the club with a couple of really solid options to fill in its rotation holes.
It remains to be seen which direction the Red Sox will go here, but it definitely seems like the organization is aware of the fact that the rotation needs to be addressed.
Otherwise, Chaim Bloom and company wouldn’t have been involved in the Matz sweepstakes.
The organization is trying to get back to the postseason in 2022 after going on a deep run to the ALCS in 2021.
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