A Rotation or a Merry-Go-Round?
Which brings us to the next big question: What do the Sox do if it takes Wright two months of pitching to regain his form? Three months? The entire season? Or what happens if Rodriguez regresses before Wright is ready?
Those questions would be a lot easier to answer if Boston were to acquire another starting pitcher. specially as their farm system is barren. None of their top pitching prospects—Jay Groome, Tanner Houck and Bryan Mata—has ever pitched above A ball.
However, they could still pay for one of the free agents, such as Lance Lynn, Jake Arrieta, and Alex Cobb. And they should.
I know they are already over the cap, but in for a penny in for a pound.
And that is because the Sox face a serious contender in the Yankees and need to go all in. They tried to make due with Doug Fister, and he put up a 4.88 for his 90 IP. Boston should try to do better this year. But they are not, at least not so far.
The plan seems to be a good one in this era: Wait until July and acquire a front-line starter then. That way you get an Ace for the stretch and playoffs, when you need that person the most, for less than half the year’s salary.
But that is playing a dangerous game.
And one the Yankees are also seemingly content to play; they, too, need to go all in. That is even truer in their case as their starters face more questions.