MLB Insider Points To Red Sox As ‘Obvious Fit’ For Free-Agent Pitcher

Nick Pivetta is one of a handful of former Boston Red Sox players still out on the free-agent market in search of their next MLB home.

But it’s not completely out of the question for Pivetta to make a return to Boston.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan actually sees the the Red Sox as a strong landing spot for Pivetta, given the right-hander’s familiarity with the organization and Pivetta being able to bolster an improved pitching staff.

“Right-hander Nick Pivetta radiates talent, and teams’ pitching models adore his stuff,” Passan wrote in a piece published Tuesday. “Teams in need of more starting pitching — the Cleveland Guardians, the San Diego Padres, even Boston, where the 32-year-old Pivetta spent the past five years — are obvious fits.”

Pivetta, who had an up-and-down 2024 season in which he posted a 4.14 ERA and 1.126 WHIP, opted to test the open market after he rejected Boston’s $21.05 million qualifying offer at the start of the offseason. But Pivetta’s market wasn’t as robust as he anticipated, leading him to still wait to sign with a team as pitchers and catchers from across MLB report to spring training this week.

In the meantime, the Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet and also signed Walker Buehler along with Patrick Sandoval, who isn’t expected to be ready to pitch until late in the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/10f5MWfLEptroGZYhzFDAx

On paper, there doesn’t look to be room in Boston’s rotation for Pivetta. Crochet, Buehler and Tanner Houck, who is coming off the first All-Star season of his career, headline a rotation that also features Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford. The Red Sox seem like they want to try out a six-man rotation, but having a surplus of pitching is never a bad thing. And it’s to be determined what the Red Sox will get out of Giolito, who missed all of last season after undergoing elbow surgery.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t tip his hand Tuesday when speaking with reporters if the organization had any interest in bringing Pivetta back. The Red Sox are in a win-win situation, though. They can wait things out and perhaps sign Pivetta if an injury occurs or see him sign somewhere else and pick up a compensatory pick in the process.

“The type of contract Pivetta is seeking, in the meantime, is of great interest to those considering pursuing him,” Passan wrote. “When a player remains a free agent on the cusp of spring training, teams smell blood in the water and start offering bargain-basement deals. Even saddled by the qualifying offer and its accompanying draft-pick compensation, Pivetta’s potential is so much higher than his fellow remaining free agents that he can hold firm at a strong multiyear ask.”