This offseason has a familiar feel to it for Boston Red Sox fans. After missing the playoffs for the fifth time in six years, the club needs to prioritize starting pitching.
Last year, with Craig Breslow replacing Chaim Bloom as president of baseball operations, the Red Sox addressed the rotation by signing Lucas Giolito and little-known swingman Cooper Criswell. Giolito didn’t throw a pitch for Boston in 2024 due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.
Even with Giolito expected to return in 2025, more needs to be done to improve the pitching staff. To do so, Breslow and Co. will either have to pull off a blockbuster trade or spend some big money in free agency. Boston has been reluctant to make either of those moves in recent offseasons.
Nonetheless, there will be options for them in the 2025 free-agent class. It isn’t the strongest group of starting pitchers, but …