You'll remember the Boston Red Sox got the trade deadline hot stove warmed up pretty early last season with their acquisition of Nick Pivetta and Conor Seabold.
On Aug. 21, 10 days ahead of the Aug. 31 trade deadline, the Red Sox sent relievers Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman to the Philadelphia Phillies for Pivetta and Seabold.
Pivetta was considered a change of scenery guy who had pitched plenty in the big leagues, while Seabold was more the highly-touted prospect type.
But, interestingly, the Tampa Bay Rays had their eyes set on Pivetta, and were planning a hard push for him before the Red Sox got to him.
Reason being? They thought he could be the next Tyler Glasnow.
"Pivetta and Connor Seabold came over from the Phillies," wrote The Athletic's Peter Gammons on Monday. "And where Philadelphia organizational people think he simply needs a change, the Rays tried hard to beat (Chaim) Bloom to him; 'we think he can be another Glasnow,' said a Rays official."
Glasnow had a bumpy start in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 3-11 with a 5.79 ERA across three seasons. He then was traded to the Rays in the Chris Archer deal, and since has been their No. 2 guy -- who will now be the ace following the Blake Snell trade.
If the Red Sox get Glasnow-type contributions out of Pivetta, it would be pretty impressive. The 27-year-old, who will be 28 on Sunday, made two starts for the Red Sox at the end of the year, and he showed great promise. He went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA over 10 innings, which came against the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves.
The Rays historically have had a great eye for pitchers, especially those that previously had underperformed. So their interest in Pivetta should be pretty encouraging for Boston fans.
Pivetta finished his Phillies tenure with a combined record of 19-30 with a 5.50 ERA. He's getting that clean slate in Boston, where he'll compete for a spot in the back of the rotation during spring training.
Sounds like there's plenty of reason to be optimistic about what he can provide.
