(Another more specific offseason thread - again, if people think this is redundant, feel free to delete.)
There are fewer questions about the starting rotation than there are about the bullpen. Assuming health and barring a surprise trade, the top four are set: Sale, Price, Porcello, and Rodriguez. There are a few options for the remaining spot. In no particular order...
Do nothing. This is defensible - give the fifth spot in the rotation over to some combination of Brian Johnson, Hector Velasquez, and (knee permitting) Steven Wright - and maybe Shawaryn or even Darwinzon Hernandez at some point - while monitoring the in-season trade market. If this strategy seems familiar, it's because it's the one they employed in 2018. The downside, of course, is that if someone gets hurt, then that depth gets stretched pretty quickly. But, again, this worked pretty well this past season.
Re-sign Eovaldi. I expect this will be a popular choice here. On the plus side, he was really good with Boston this year. On the down side, he figures to be a popular target in free agency for a lot of teams, which could drive his pricetag ever upwards. It does sort of seem like Dombrowski puts some value on continuity and bringing in/keeping "his guys," but that could just be my perception.
Sign a different Top Guy. This option has not been discussed too much here, but there's a case to be made. Specifically, and without spending too much time on who is and isn't a "top guy," I'd fully expect Dombrowski to at least consider either Happ or Morton if Eovaldi does indeed sign elsewhere. Maybe even Keuchel, but he'll probably require a larger commitment than the other two. Happ and Morton are both in their 30s, maybe they'd take something similar to what Lackey got from the Cubs a few years ago?
Trade for a Top Guy who is signed beyond this year. This was discussed here over the weekend, but it seems to have cooled a bit. The appeal is obvious: they would strengthen the team in 2019 while also leaving themselves covered for 2020 in the event (likely, IMO) that Sale leaves via free agency. The problem is also obvious: how would they pull this off when other teams who look to be in the market for starting pitching - including but not limited to Atlanta, Milwaukee, and the Yankees - have better minor-league systems than Boston? I don't think they're inclined to trade from the MLB roster to fill a hole that doesn't really exist, but it's certainly a possibility.
Sign a fourth-starter type. I get that nobody's excited about someone like Lance Lynn or Gio Gonzalez or Trevor Cahill or Jeremy Hellickson, but they'll give you some innings and probably - probably! - won't be terrible in doing so. At least one guy from this category will have a really good year out of nowhere; it wasn't so long ago that the aforementioned Happ and Morton were guys you picked up because you needed a warm body in your rotation. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the route they chose.
Take some cheap flyers. Nobody expected Wade Miley or Anibal Sanchez to start a playoff game last year, and yet they did just that. Maybe someone nobody's thinking of right now will dramatically turn his career around.
There are fewer questions about the starting rotation than there are about the bullpen. Assuming health and barring a surprise trade, the top four are set: Sale, Price, Porcello, and Rodriguez. There are a few options for the remaining spot. In no particular order...
Do nothing. This is defensible - give the fifth spot in the rotation over to some combination of Brian Johnson, Hector Velasquez, and (knee permitting) Steven Wright - and maybe Shawaryn or even Darwinzon Hernandez at some point - while monitoring the in-season trade market. If this strategy seems familiar, it's because it's the one they employed in 2018. The downside, of course, is that if someone gets hurt, then that depth gets stretched pretty quickly. But, again, this worked pretty well this past season.
Re-sign Eovaldi. I expect this will be a popular choice here. On the plus side, he was really good with Boston this year. On the down side, he figures to be a popular target in free agency for a lot of teams, which could drive his pricetag ever upwards. It does sort of seem like Dombrowski puts some value on continuity and bringing in/keeping "his guys," but that could just be my perception.
Sign a different Top Guy. This option has not been discussed too much here, but there's a case to be made. Specifically, and without spending too much time on who is and isn't a "top guy," I'd fully expect Dombrowski to at least consider either Happ or Morton if Eovaldi does indeed sign elsewhere. Maybe even Keuchel, but he'll probably require a larger commitment than the other two. Happ and Morton are both in their 30s, maybe they'd take something similar to what Lackey got from the Cubs a few years ago?
Trade for a Top Guy who is signed beyond this year. This was discussed here over the weekend, but it seems to have cooled a bit. The appeal is obvious: they would strengthen the team in 2019 while also leaving themselves covered for 2020 in the event (likely, IMO) that Sale leaves via free agency. The problem is also obvious: how would they pull this off when other teams who look to be in the market for starting pitching - including but not limited to Atlanta, Milwaukee, and the Yankees - have better minor-league systems than Boston? I don't think they're inclined to trade from the MLB roster to fill a hole that doesn't really exist, but it's certainly a possibility.
Sign a fourth-starter type. I get that nobody's excited about someone like Lance Lynn or Gio Gonzalez or Trevor Cahill or Jeremy Hellickson, but they'll give you some innings and probably - probably! - won't be terrible in doing so. At least one guy from this category will have a really good year out of nowhere; it wasn't so long ago that the aforementioned Happ and Morton were guys you picked up because you needed a warm body in your rotation. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the route they chose.
Take some cheap flyers. Nobody expected Wade Miley or Anibal Sanchez to start a playoff game last year, and yet they did just that. Maybe someone nobody's thinking of right now will dramatically turn his career around.