A day removed from losing on the Jon Lester sweepstakes to the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox were quick to move on. They acquired starter Wade Miley from the Diamondbacks by trading Rubby De La Rosa, pitcher Allen Webster, and a minor leaguer. Then nearly a half-day later, they traded Yoenis Cespedes along with pitchers Gabe Speier and Alex Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for starter Rick Porcello. And shortly after that, Boston inked Justin Masterson to a $9.5 million deal with incentives to earn more.
So here’s what the Red Sox starting rotation looks like (with no regards to order): Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz, and Joe Kelly.
In retrospect, did Lester’s decision to go to Chicago work out better for Boston? In a way, I’d say so. But take that with a grain of salt. Boston made use of their movable assets and the money they saved to acquire three starting pitchers rather than spending all of that money on one starter. Boston management can take a sigh of relief especially after the signings of Hanley and Sandoval.
While these three new Red Sox starts aren’t quite on the same level as Jon Lester on their track record, they are solid in their own right.
Rick Porcello, who now appears to be the ace of the staff, is a much better pitcher than what his overall stats show. He posted a 15-13 record along with a 3.43 ERA. Don’t let the amount losses discourage you as four of those losses came when he only gave up 3 runs or less. In addition to that, Porcello also tied for the lead-league in shutouts. It’s worth noting he is just 25. Eclipsing 200 innings for the first time this past season, this guy can go deep into games.
Wade Miley and Justin Masterson are two candidates for a bounce-back season. Coming into his fourth year, Miley has yet to replicate his dominant rookie season in 2012 where he was an All-Star and won 16 games with a 3.33 ERA. But there’s still room for improvement for the 28-year-old, and it’s a notable feat that he’s pitched at least 200 innings the past two seasons. Posting an atrocious 5.88 ERA this past season, Masterson is just a year removed from his All-Star campaign where he won 14 games with a 3.45 ERA. We can attribute his bad season to being injury-riddled, at least Boston is hoping that’s the case.
For the disappointment Red Sox fans, it’s easy to assume the worst with their new starters because Jon Lester is a tough talent to compare to. But this is a matter of Boston working with what they have (because money is always a factor) and acquiring players to fill out rotation spots as Lester could’ve only occupied one. Rick Porcello is someone fans should definitely be excited about but as with Miley and Masterson, Boston will be rolling the dice in hopes of further improvement from them. If it all works out, the rotation has the potential to be solid with a potent offense behind them.
-Peter Navarro
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