Red Sox Loosely Linked To Two-Time Cy Young Winner To Bolster Rotation

Boston could use a bona fide ace in the rotation

Red Sox Loosely Linked To Two-Time Cy Young Winner To Bolster Rotation

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The Boston Red Sox seemingly have been one of the most involved teams at the top of the starting pitching market.

There are a plethora of frontline starters remaining in free agency and Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will need to recruit at least one, likely two, if he wants to be competitive in 2024. Fortunately, for the first time in years, the national media can foresee the Red Sox landing a big name.

When trying to find offseason fits for each team, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand had reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell heading to Boston.

"Boston’s 4.68 ERA from its starters ranked 12th in the American League, as all eight pitchers who made at least nine starts registered an ERA above 4.00," Feinsand wrote Monday. "The 2024 rotation features just one lefty -- the oft-injured Chris Sale -- so bringing in the two-time Cy Young Award winner would benefit the Red Sox."

Snell went 14-9 with a league-leading 2.25 ERA, 234-to-99 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .181 batting average against and 1.19 WHIP in 180 innings across 32 starts.

The southpaw led Major League Baseball with a 182 ERA+ but took a very odd path to get there. He led the league with only 5.8 hits per nine innings but also led the league with 99 walks allowed.

Still, the 30-year-old would be a fantastic addition to the Red Sox's roster. Outside of Japanese sensations Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell is the biggest name on the market.

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Published Nov 21, 2023

Scott Neville

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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