Red Sox Reportedly Have Shown Interest In Polarizing Ex-Cardinals Hurler

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been adamant that starting pitching is the priority this offseason.

The organization appeared to plan for major splashes this winter after firing Chaim Bloom and a select few coaches while announcing they would go "full throttle" to improve the roster.

Yet, as we sit here in mid-December, no significant upgrades have been made. The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes held up the market through the Winter Meetings. Now fellow Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto has done his best to put a pause on any activity.

Once that shoe does finally drop -- Yamamoto is expected to sign before Christmas -- free agency will heat up and Boston reportedly is targeting a slew of starting pitchers, including one new name.

"If the Sox do lose out on Yamamoto, several pitchers who would upgrade the rotation remain available," The Boston Globe's Alex Speier wrote Thursday. "The team has shown varying degrees of interest in a range of free agents that includes (Jordan) Montgomery, (Blake) Snell (despite his pedigree as a two-time Cy Young winner, less appealing than Montgomery given that, as a recipient of a qualifying offer, he’d require the sacrifice of a second-round draft pick), Shōta Imanaga, Lucas Giolito, and Jack Flaherty."

The Red Sox's interest in all but one has been previously noted by various reports. Speier's inclusion of Flaherty, however, is the first to link the two sides.

The 28-year-old went 8-9 with a 4.99 ERA, 148-to-66 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .287 batting average against and a 1.58 WHIP in 144 1/3 innings last season between the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles.

The former homegrown Cardinals starter was once believed to be one of the young budding aces in the league before injuries and inconsistencies derailed his upward trajectory.

Flaherty posted a 3.01 ERA with a 29.8% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate, incredible .195 batting average against and 1.03 WHIP in 347 1/3 innings across his age 22 and 23 seasons (2018-2019).

Since then, he rose to a 4.42 ERA, dropped his strikeout rate to 24.1%, his walk rate jumped to 9.9%, posted a .253 batting average against and 1.39 WHIP in 299 innings across four injury-riddled seasons.

Flaherty is the perfect example of a player who would rebuild his career with the Tampa Bay Rays or Houston Astros -- those organizations would find a way to maximize his physical gifts once again.

Boston does not have that track record -- though they were successful with Michael Wacha, whose career had gone similarly and the influx of personnel to the pitching department is encouraging.

It would be much safer to rely on the other names who have been repeatedly linked to the Red Sox but if Boston were to sign Flaherty, it would be an interesting reclamation project to witness.

With plenty of in-house clay to play with -- Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, Josh Winckowski -- it might make sense to get a more developed asset to bolster the starting rotation.

More MLB: Red Sox Are In Best Position To Sign Japanese Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto