Red Sox Predicted To 'Fortify' This Key Position At 2025 Trade Deadline

Does it matter if the Red Sox are "buying" or "selling" in this regard?

Jul 22, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hat and glove laying in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

It's no secret that the Boston Red Sox's rotation has been floundering. Well, at least outside of their ace.

Garrett Crochet has been everything the Red Sox could have hoped for, putting up a 2.35 ERA and leading all of baseball with 110 strikeouts. But Brayan Bello (3.96 ERA), Hunter Dobbins (4.20), Walker Buehler (5.18), and Lucas Giolito (6.42) are hardly a murderer's row behind him.

The rotation's follies are a key reason the Red Sox are 32-36, and thus uncomfortably floating in between buying and selling at next month's trade deadline. But one team insider believes reinforcements are on the way.

On Tuesday, Ian Browne of MLB.com predicted that the Red Sox would trade for at least one starter before the Jul. 31 trade deadline, but cautioned that the improvements had to come internally as well.

"When we get to July, I think you'll see (chief baseball officer) Craig Breslow add at least one starting pitcher to fortify this rotation that, let's face it, it hasn't been as good as anyone expected," Browne said. "But they need to improve their pitching before that.

"I think Walker Buehler and Brayan Bello (are) the two guys that have the best chance of improving their performance in short order... And then the rotation will have Crochet, Bello, and Buehler as a good front three until they can get help at the trade deadline."

Trading for a starter doesn't mean the Red Sox have to be classified as "buyers." Their logjam of position players means they could lean towards "selling" by shipping out an outfielder like Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu for a package headlined by a young starter who is at or nearing big-league readiness.

It's also worth mentioning that Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval will eventually return from the injured list, though it's impossible to project how either will fare.

Whether it counts as buying, selling, or something in between, Red Sox fans would be grateful to watch a competent start more than once every five days.

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