The Red Sox entered this offseason with a focus on upgrading the rotation, and they’ve done just that.
Boston made three additions to the unit before the calendar flipped, trading for Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval. It’s clear the club left no stone unturned trying to upgrade a unit that desperately needed an influx of talented arms.
The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier backed that takeaway up with a recent report, stating there were discussions between the Red Sox and Pirates about right-hander Jared Jones during the MLB winter meetings.
Jones, 23, was never going to get the same recognition as his fellow rookie Paul Skenes, but was among the most promising rookie pitchers in 2024. He made 24 starts for the club and posted a 4.14 ERA, 1.192 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over 121 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh was likely asking a lot for Jones, which could’ve included at least one of Boston’s top prospects and another talented young player with big-league experience — which likely became too steep a price to pay after acquiring a more proven pitcher in Crochet for less than that.
The Red Sox now have plenty of names to fill out their rotation, but it’s still intriguing to see how many different irons were in the fire.
