Red Sox's Next Steps Are Clear After Missing Out On Michael King

Certainly, a front office can focus on several things at once during the offseason. But it didn't make a lot of sense that the Boston Red Sox were pursuing starting pitcher Michael King.

King, who spent the last two seasons starring in the San Diego Padres organization, grew up in Rhode Island and attended Boston College for three years. Over the weekend, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox were locked in something of an American League East battle with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees for King's services.

However, on Thursday evening, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that King re-signed with the Padres on a three-year, $75 million deal that includes opt-outs after each of the first two years. Regardless of how involved the Red Sox were at the tail end of the bidding war, the path forward for the rest of the offseason is abundantly clear.

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Red Sox need to go all-in on offense

Would King have made for a nice insurance piece for the Red Sox rotation, possibly even fitting into the No. 2 role ahead of Sonny Gray? Perhaps, but the far more pressing need at this juncture is offense, and there really shouldn't be any more free-agent starting pitchers on Boston's radar.

In the aftermath of King's return to San Diego, beat writer Chris Cotillo of MassLive echoed longstanding reports that Boston was making offense the top priority, with a near-guarantee that the next piece the Red Sox added would be a bat.

"Because of those New England ties, one source close to King said last weekend that he would “love to be in Boston” if the term and dollars lined up," wrote Cotillo. "The Red Sox are known to be prioritizing offensive additions after obtaining both Gray and (Johan) Oviedo and while another rotation addition can’t fully be ruled out, it’s much more likely that the club’s next addition of note will come on the offensive side of things."

Of note, the Red Sox have not yet signed a major league free agent this weekend, and the buzz in Boston this week has centered on the Arizona Diamondbacks emerging as a serious threat to a potential reunion with Alex Bregman.

Though it's rarely this simple, there should be no more thoughts of signing or trading for starting pitchers at this point until at least one big bat is acquired.

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