McAdam: Clay Buchholz serves as important reminder as Sox begin to look for a new GM

It's easy to forget that Clay Buchholz is still pitching in the big leagues. And yet, there he was, on the mound at Rogers Centre Thursday night, pitching against the Red Sox for the first time in his career.

At this point, Buchholz is barely hanging on. He made his ninth start of the season Thursday and gave up four runs in four innings in the Red Sox' 7-4 win, resulting in a 5.63 ERA and a 1-5 record. The Blue Jays are his fourth organization in the last four seasons, following the Sox, Philadelphia and Arizona.

But he's relevant not because at 35 he would seem to be coming to an end, but because of what he symbolizes for his former team. Three years after he threw his last pitch in Boston and a dozen years removed from his major league debut, Buchholz remains the last starting pitcher of note the Red Sox have developed for their own rotation.

Buchholz displayed some inconsistency, was prone to injuries and probably didn't meet expectations. But he did win in double figures three times, exceeded 170 innings three times and twice posted an ERA below 2.35.

From a position player standpoint, the Red Sox could hardly have been more successful in the last decade. With the exception of J.D. Martinez at DH, the Red Sox can -- and have -- regularly fielded position players who are homegrown, a group that includes Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts.

But as fertile as their developmental system has been when it comes to churning out hitters and even a number of quality bullpen arms (Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman and Darwinzon Hernandez), they've been inept in scouting and graduating starters to the big league team.

A number of prospects were supposed to make it: Michael Bowden, Barnes, Felix Doubront, Henry Owens. Brian Johnson...

The list of candidates is lengthy. The list of those who succeeded is non-existent.

Some showed brief flashes. But because of command issues, or inconsistency, or lack of stuff at the major league level, each one eventually flamed out.

Even this season, the two pitchers in the minors thought to be closest to contributing at the big league level -- Darwinzon Hernandez and former first-round pick Tanner Houck -- were, like Barnes before them, converted to the bullpen. It's possible that one or both could revert to starting, but they're far from assured of making that transition.

Without any homegrown starters, the Red Sox have had to fill their rotation either through free agency (David Price, Nathan Eovaldi) or trade (Rick Porcello, Chris Sale). Eduardo Rodriguez was still a prospect when he arrived in a deal for Andrew Miller, but was signed and mostly developed by the Baltimore Orioles.

In signing or dealing for established pitchers, the Red Sox have paid a steep price -- either in prospects or salary, or both.

This season, the quartet of Sale, Price, Eovaldi and Porcello combined to make $84 million, or more than a third of the team's entire payroll. Even with Porcello expected to leave via free agency this winter, Sale, Price and Eovaldi will make $74 million in 2020 as Sale's contract extension kicks in and sees his base salary jump by $10 million (from $15 million this season to $25 million next).

That sort of allocation for three or four pitchers isn't sustainable, especially if the Red Sox, as speculated, have designs on reducing their payroll substantially over the next couple of years in order to re-set their luxury tax levels.

Moreover, by relying on pitchers signed through free agency, a team is, by definition, acquiring older pitchers. And as Price and Eovaldi demonstrated this season, that can be a sucker's bet. Price has had three IL stints this season and Eovaldi missed three months with yet another surgical procedure on his elbow.

Shopping in the free-agent aisle is risky business and usually not efficient -- and that goes double when the target is starting pitching.

All of which makes it incumbent upon the Red Sox to hire a new GM/President of Baseball Operations who has a track record of developing young pitching. And no matter who runs the franchise, the scouts and minor league development people have to do a better job of identifying young arms and guiding them to the big leagues.

Otherwise, the Sox will find themselves stuck in the vicious circle of having to sacrifice their best prospects to trade for pitching elsewhere, or continue to overspend for the few quality starters who make it to the free-agent market.