Red Sox extend qualifying offer to Nick Pivetta to kick off offseason
Red Sox extend qualifying offer to Nick Pivetta to kick off offseason
The Red Sox made a stunning move on Monday, extending the $21.05 million qualifying offer to right-handed starter Nick Pivetta.
Boston is looking to improve their depth in the starting rotation and in the bullpen this winter and is prepared to do that with Pivetta in the fold. Towards the conclusion of the regular season, Pivetta told reporters that he hadn’t spoken to the Red Sox about an extension with the club. With his inconsistencies in the rotation at times, going from a dominant starter to a lackluster backend of the rotation arm, it seemed almost like a slam dunk Boston would let him test free agency.
Instead, Breslow is prioritizing pitching depth that will include Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Lucas Giolito. At times, Pivetta has shown flashes of brilliance, which excites the Red Sox, including a 2.62 ERA over his final six starts to close the season.
“We definitely saw stretches of him just being dominant,” said Sox’ chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “He’s a guy that has performed well in this market and has all of the underlying metrics. He gets a ton of swing-and-miss. He doesn’t walk, guys. He can get guys out pitching in the strike zone. So as you think about what a major league starting pitcher needs to be able to do to be successful, he has a lot of those ingredients.”
Pivetta will have until Nov. 19 to accept or decline the Sox’ QO offer, which at this juncture appears likely. If he declines the offer and signs somewhere else, the Red Sox will receive draft pick compensation. With the $21.05 million tag attached to Pivetta, the Red Sox might have killed his free agent market due to the potential of having to offer draft picks for his services.
Even if Pivetta accepts the Red Sox offer, it doesn’t prohibit them from adding a top hurler to the rotation arm. Boston could look to create a vacancy by trading Tanner Houck or even Kutter Crawford. They could also look to acquire a cost-control young hurler like Garrett Crochet and slot everyone back accordingly in the rotation. Another option is adding more quality arms that can both start and relieve; in the process, bolster the bullpen and create a surplus of pitchers.
“I am not going to be the guy who goes on record saying that you can have enough pitching—too much pitching. [That doesn’t] exist. . . . The goal is to construct the strongest team we possibly can, and we need to be flexible; we need to be open to a number of paths in doing that,” said Breslow. “I don’t think anything’s off the table. I think we’ll still continue to explore how we improve the rotation and how we improve the pitching staff.”
