"We have had some conversations," Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow said Monday in his first comments since trading for starter Garrett Crochet and signing free agents Patrick Sandoval and Walker Buehler. "We're very, very open to a number of solutions," Breslow said. "I don't think it's possible to have too much starting pitching depth, and we know we're going to call on more than just five guys - whether that's right out of the gates or at some point during the season."
The Red Sox entered last season down two potential aces, having traded eventual NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale to Atlanta just before Lucas Giolito blew out his elbow in spring training, causing him to miss the entire season. While the team hovered on the verge of contention near the All-Star break, its starting pitching was stretched thin in the second half, dragging the bullpen down with it and leaving the club out of the playoffs for the third straight season.
Breslow has loaded up on starters this winter. In a trade announced during the winter meetings, the Red Sox got Crochet from the Chicago White Sox for four prospects. The hard-throwing lefty was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts for a Chicago team that went 41-121 - the most losses for any club since 1900.
"I think it gave us a chance to take a really good rotation and potentially catapult it into an elite level," Breslow stated, highlighting the ambition and potential trajectory of the team's starting pitching efforts in the upcoming season.
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