Chris Sale Is Gone, Who Is The Next Red Sox Ace?

World Series - Boston Red Sox v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game Five (G)
Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

Bob and Jake discuss the Sale for Grissom deal, Lucas Giolito’s signing, and go on the hunt for “controllable” starting pitching.

Welcome back to The Red Seat Podcast, episode number 303. This week, Jake Devereaux and Bob Osgood discuss the two big moves from the past week: the signing of starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, and the Chris Sale trade to Atlanta for second baseman Vaughn Grissom.

We opened the show discussing the trade with the Braves and what the Red Sox are getting back in Grissom, who was blocked in Atlanta at both second and third base, and was unable to handle the shortstop position defensively. He doesn’t have a ton of power but should hit for average, put the ball in play, and has six years of team control to hopefully provide stability at a position that has been a revolving door of uncertainty in recent years. We then reflect on the Chris Sale era one final time.

Lucas Giolito signed a complicated contract that will likely be for one year if he pitches well enough in 2024 and chooses to opt-out. Jake and Bob have different stances on the signing but do agree that he should provide stable innings in a rotation that has had too many injuries in recent seasons.

Looking into possible trades for “controllable starting pitching”, Jake scoured the rosters throughout MLB to find pitchers who have 2+ years remaining on their contracts, and we tried to tier them based on talent and feasibility of a trade.

To finish the show, we discussed the rumors of a Kenley Jansen trade and answered a listener question about the Red Sox’ lack of interest in Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel.

If you have a question for an upcoming Red Seat pod, you can email us at redseatpodcast@gmail.com or tweet us. On Twitter, Jake is @DevJake, Keaton is @TheSpokenKeats and Bob is @BobOsgood15. Thanks for listening!

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