He wasn't rushed to the MLB. He's already 26. I don't mind him being the 5 in 2023 but I don't think the Sox are a serious contender in 2023 outside of some fortunate luck.
He's going to have good and bad stretches.
Crawford is probably best thought of as a #6 at this point, not the #5 by design. Mostly because that means we'd have very little depth after him.
Who we control for 2023:
SP: Sale, Paxton, Pivetta, Whitlock, Bello. (Crawford/Winckowski/Seabold).
PB: Houck, Schreiber, Barnes, German, Kelly, Taylor, Danish, Brasier
If we don't pick up Paxton's option (or you do and one of Paxton/Sale goes down), it looks like:
SP: Sale, Pivetta, Whitlock, Bello, Crawford. (Winckowski/Seabold).
That's not a lot of depth unless you want to move Houck back into the rotation. But then you'd
really need to sign some arms for the pen; which otherwise would be hi-lighted by Bares and Schreiber.
But they're not far off the contention path if healthy:
Get a Wacha type starter, and/or Paxton - then you have:
SP: Sale, Paxton, Pivetta, Wacha, Bello. (Crawford/Whitlock.)
RP: Houck, Whitlock, Schreiber, Crawford, Barnes, whomever.
Or you get a relief ace or two:
SP: Sale, Pivetta, Whitlock, Bello, Crawford. (Winckowski/Seabold.)
RP: Ace, Ace, Houck, Schreiber, Barnes, whomever.
I think the first (sign a starter) looks more robust.
But 2023 begins and ends with Sale's health.