Red Sox Notebook: As offseason roster build begins, Sox looking to stockpile arms; budget still unclear

It's no secret that the Red Sox need starting pitching -- and lots of it.

That would be the case after any season in which the Red Sox finished next-to-last in staff ERA in the American League. But given the physical question marks attached to some of their starting candidates, that goes double for the Sox this winter.

When the season begins next April, the Red Sox will likely still be two months away from the return of Chris Sale, currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. A second projected starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, didn't pitch at all in 2020 after being diagnosed with COVID-19, then contracting myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) as a side effect.

Tanner Houck was phenomenal in his September callup, but has just three major league starts to his credit. And Martin Perez, who was thought to be a sure thing to return as a result of a team option, is instead a free agent and appears close to signing elsewhere.

That leaves Nathan Eovaldi as the lone established holdover for 2021, and as his career path suggests, he's never been exactly durable.

"We need to make sure that we are aggressive in amassing both short- and long-term depth,'' said chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. "We clearly didn't have what we needed in that regard in 2020. I think, by the end of the (past season), looking ahead, we could feel better about it than we might have on Opening Day. But we still have a lot of work do to.''

The Sox aren't boxing themselves in or pre-planning much beforehand. The idea is to acquire a lot of quality options and then deploy them in the best way possible. That means depth is more important than ever.

"I'd like to be in a spot where we feel pretty good about what we have and then when (Sale) comes back, that's upside,'' said Bloom. ''We know that's not going to be at the beginning of the season. Even when you might choose to do some non-traditional things, you still want to do it from a position of strength where you have credible starting pitching and you might decide to open in front of them or to do different things to give yourself a better chance to win on a given night. But you're doing that as a choice, not out of necessity.''



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There's plenty of uncertainty about the game's economics, since most teams don't now know whether fans are going to be allowed in ballparks next season. Since that makes it tough to project revenue, it's also tough to predict what budgets will be.

"We've talked about it in general terms,'' said Bloom. "The course we chart this offseason, I think some of that may be based upon what opportunities are there. And also how things fit into our larger goal -- which is to build a sustainable championship contender. So that's not just focused on just 2021; that's also focused on longer-term opportunities and we want to look at everything through the context of that. Not just how it helps us now, but what it could mean for us down the road.

"It's a difficult question to answer directly. We just want to make sure that everything we do is consistent with that bigger goal."

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Bloom said the Sox don't have definitive word on how the ongoing minor league contraction will affect Red Sox affiliates.

"We're not quit there yet,'' said Bloom. "Hoping to have that soon. To expect we're going to be impacted in some way by that, I think, is reasonable. We still don't know exactly how it's going to shake out...It's still a developing picture.''

There remains a chance that the team's affiliate in Lowell could be transformed into an independent affiliate. It's possible that another short-season affiliate in Fort Myers could also be lost.

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Bloom wouldn't categorically rule out signing free agents who were given -- but declined -- qualifying offers. Only sx were given qualifying offers and two accepted: New York Mets starter Marcus Stroman and San Francisco Giants starter Kevin Gausman. That leaves infielder D.J. LeMahieu, outfielder George Springer, catcher J.T. Realmuto and starter Trevor Bauer as free agents who would have compensation attached.

For the Sox, such a signing would mean forfeiting their second-round pick and $500,000 of international bonus money.

"I think it's our responsibility to engage on everybody that could fit us,'' said Bloom. "Obviously, when you're talking about somebody who has a qualifying offer on them, the cost to us in signing them is greater and you have to factor that in on some level. But I don't like ruling us out on anybody.''

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Bloom was asked whether whether there had been any internal discussions about moving Rafael Devers to first and playing Bobby Dalbec at third, his original position. Devers has struggled defensively the last two seasons and in 2020, led all major leaguers in errors.

"With Bobby, we want to be able to maintain his ability to play both of those positions,'' said Bloom. "We just think the versatility is going to be great for him. That could be important on Day 1, or that could be important in a year or two years and the fact that he's capable over there (at third) is huge. We never want somebody who has the ability to play other positions to be pigeon-holed at first base.

"But we know Raffy's capable of a lot more than he showed at 2020. I think he knows that. You guys know the bond that Alex (Cora) has with him and that's already something we've discussed, making sure that we're doing everything to help him be in position to play a really good third base as he has in the past. I think early indications from the offseason are that Raffy's preparing himself to do that.''