Dombrowski: Red Sox interested in 'any' available starter
Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski got his feet wet earlier this month when he acquired elite closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres in exchange for four prospects, and his focus is now turning to acquiring a starting pitcher.
"There are a lot of quality starting pitchers out there ... any of them are under consideration for us," Dombrowski said Sunday on MLB Network Radio. "I feel comfortable saying that any (starters) out there we have interest in them and hopefully somebody has interest in us."
Dombrowski - who inherits a pitching staff that allowed the sixth-most runs in the majors (753) and finished 25th in team ERA (4.31) - also acknowledged it would probably take up to a seven-year deal in order to land some of the top arms available on the free-agent market.
TOP FA PITCHERS - 2015 STATS
| PITCHER | AGE | W-L | ERA | SO/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Price | 30 | 18-5 | 2.45 | 10.5 |
| Zack Greinke | 32 | 19-3 | 1.66 | 8.1 |
| Johnny Cueto | 29 | 11-3 | 3.44 | 7.5 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 29 | 13-10 | 3.66 | 7.3 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 30 | 11-13 | 4.96 | 6.9 |
| John Lackey | 37 | 13-10 | 2.77 | 7.2 |
| Yovani Gallardo | 29 | 13-11 | 3.42 | 5.9 |
| Hisashi Iwakuma | 34 | 9-5 | 3.54 | 7.7 |
| Scott Kazmir | 31 | 7-11 | 3.10 | 7.6 |
| Ian Kennedy | 30 | 9-15 | 4.28 | 9.3 |
Dombrowski could also take advantage of having one of the best farm systems in the bigs, and make a trade to acquire a top-end starter. The freewheeling Atlanta Braves are one team the Red Sox could poach a starter from. Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller could be available as Atlanta continues its rebuilding phase. Oakland Athletics ace Sonny Gray is another player being mentioned, despite team management denying the young righty is on the trade block. Pulling off a potential deal involving any of the aforementioned hurlers would surely require a comprehensive package of high-end prospects in return.
Boston adamantly searched to acquire an ace last offseason after losing Jon Lester to free agency, but Ben Cherington, who was the general manager at the time, opted to trade for a pair of middle-tier hurlers - right-hander Rick Porcello and southpaw Wade Miley - to fill the void. Cherington then inked Porcello, who went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 28 starts, to a four-year contract extension worth $82.5 million before he even started a regular-season game for the Red Sox.
Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Joe Kelly are projected to join Porcello and Miley in next year's rotation, which is again lacking a true ace. Dombrowski envisions Rodriguez as eventually becoming a top-of-the-rotation arm, and isn't giving up on Kelly despite his struggles as a starter in the early portion of the 2015 campaign. Southpaws Henry Owens and Brian Johnson also got a taste of big-league action last season, and are options to start games.