Red Sox are in need of top-of-the-rotation starters, Phillies' Aaron Nola among the best available free agents this winter
The Red Sox are expected to be very active this offseason, once they hire a new leader of baseball operations. Boston is in need of top line starting pitching and this winter there are no shortage of players who could help the Sox in 2024 and beyond.
Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola will be one of the free agent pitchers Boston will be connected to once offseason begins.
Nola and the Phillies will begin the NLCS on Monday night at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be the second consecutive season that the Phillies will play for the opportunity to go to the World Series.
The 30-year-old has been strong this postseason, he’s 2-0 in both of his starts, tossing 12 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs, one walk and striking out 12 between the NL Wild Card round and the NLDS.
Nola will be heavily sought after despite what can be considered a down season. The righty posted a 4.46 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 32 starts (193 ⅔ innings). Nola did give up a career-high 32 homers, but he offers tremendous durability on the mound.
One of the most important stat that fans should be looking at when it comes to Nola is innings pitched. He’s tossed 200 innings three times in his career and 180 innings or more in each of his last three seasons.
Brayan Bello led the Red Sox in innings this past season with 157 and Boston only had four pitchers total who threw over 100 innings. The Louisiana native would already present a massive upgrade to the Sox rotation.
Since 2018, Nola only trails Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole in innings pitched with 1,065 1/3 frames.
Nola broke out as an All-Star for the Phillies in 2018 and finished third in the NL Cy Young Award race. That season he posted a 17-6 record with a 2.37 ERA. Since then, he has pitched to a 3.97 ERA, which it can be argued that’s high for an ace of the staff.
If his next four-to-six seasons play out to something similar to his last, that’ll be a win for the Red Sox or any team that signs the righty.
With Boston’s desperate need for pitcher’s who can eat innings, Nola’s 3.97 ERA since 2019 would be a welcomed addition to the rotation.
As of right now, the Red Sox have Chris Sale, Bello, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck that are options for the rotation next season. Quite frankly, that’s just not good enough to compete in the AL East and in the American League in general.
At the end of September, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal speculated that Boston could be a fit due to their need of top-of-the-rotation starters.
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“He is not a high-velocity, swing-and-miss type, but as an old-school starter who takes pressure off his team’s bullpen, Nola figures to be in demand,” Rosenthal wrote. “He might not approach the six-year, $162 million deal the Yankees awarded Carlos Rodón last offseason. But with the Red Sox, Cardinals and Dodgers among the many teams that need top-of-the-rotation starters, he should fare well.”
Competition will be stiff for Nola, Phillies’ Dave Dombrowski will likely look to re-sign the righty. With the speculation that Nola could earn a deal that’s slightly less than Rodón is also appealing. The Red Sox have been weary of awarding long term contracts to pitchers ever since signing David Price.
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