McAdam: With starting rotation an issue, Red Sox seek outside pitching help

According to a report by MassLive.com, the Red Sox appear to be the front-runners for free agent pitcher Zack Godley and may have a deal in place with him in the coming days.

Inasmuch as the Red Sox can use all the help they can get with their starting rotation, this should represent some good news. Manager Ron Roenicke said Sunday that the team was exploring external options to supplement their pitching inventory, and Godley is evidence that the Sox are, indeed, attempting to improve an obvious weakness.

That's admirable -- to a point.

Yes, the club's willingness to be aggressive on the free agent market -- they reportedly beat out a handful of others which had interest -- is a positive development. It's also a public admission on their part that what the Red Sox have on hand, especially minus Eduardo Rodriguez for the time being, isn't sufficient.

For now, the Red Sox have just three starters set -- Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez and Ryan Weber -- and only Eovaldi and Perez can be labeled established. The other two spots are up for grabs, with Brian Johnson as one candidate and a handful of others competing to be part of an opener approach to the fifth spot.

Given that, Godley could be seen as an upgrade. He's spent parts of the last five seasons in the big leagues, has 81 starts to his credit and as recently as two years ago, won 15 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks. That more than can be said of the likes of Chris Mazza, Matt Hall, Austin Brice or Jeffrey Springs.

But on an average pitching staff, Godley would merely represent a depth option, someone whom the Sox could have as part of their Player Pool, or in their bullpen, capable of stepping in and providing multiple innings when called upon.

With this team, Godley might rightfully claim to be their third-best starting option. And that bodes poorly for the 2020 Sox.

After all, this is someone who has been designated for assignment twice since last August: once by Arizona, and more recently, by the Detroit Tigers. Getting DFA'd twice in the span of 10 months isn't necessarily disqualifying -- plenty of pitchers bounce around before catching on and enjoying success elsewhere. Just because he's been with three organizations since after last year's All-Star break doesn't mean he can't help.

But expectations should be kept in check.

One talent evaluator offered this assessment on Godley: "Good dude who competes. But his stuff is regressing and he has poor mechanics and command. I see him as depth at Triple A and you hope he can rebuild so he could go to the bullpen as a multi-inning depth guy.''

Another evaluator said that while he's liked Godley in the past, his curveball isn't what it was a few years ago and opined that he'll need to re-work his command.

There is a history of some success at the major league level. From 2017-18, he made 57 starts, averaged a little more than 165 innings per season and, in a hitter-friendly Chase Field, posted a 4.10 ERA.

But last year, splitting time between Arizona and Toronto, he took a big step backward, with a combined ERA of 5.97 with a 1.50 WHIP. And despite a highly affordable deal with Detroit this spring ($1.5 million with another $1.5 million incentives), he failed to make the roster of the Tigers, who will again be one of the two or three worst teams in this game this season.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that's never been more true than this season.

The fact that Godley represents an upgrade over others currently in camp, however, speaks volumes about the state of the Red Sox.