Red Sox Could Pivot To All-Star Hurler After Missing Out On James Paxton

The Boston Red Sox have lost an embarrassing amount of bidding wars this offseason and are starting to run out of options to bolster their rotation.

Fortunately, the free-agent market is moving historically slow and Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow still has a chance to add some impact players ahead of spring training.

While Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery remain the top options, Boston is expected to be digging into the middle tier of free agency. Among realistic options, right-hander Michael Lorenzen stands out as a formidable James Paxton replacement coming off an All-Star campaign.

Lorenzen posted a 4.18 ERA with a 111-to-47 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .265 batting average against and 1.46 WHIP in 153 innings between his time with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies.

The 32-year-old’s 105 ERA+ proved his ability as a slightly above-average starter but his road to getting there was quite odd.

Lorenzen entered the trade deadline with a 3.58 ERA across 18 starts in Detroit and appeared to be on his way to a big payday in a contract year.

He was moved to Philadelphia at the deadline and came out of the gate red hot — allowing just two runs over eight innings in his team debut followed by a no-hitter in his second start for the Phillies. At this point, his career was peaking.

Unfortunately, Lorenzen wrapped up the regular season by posting an 8.01 ERA across 30 1/3 innings, derailing his impressive season. He was able to throw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the postseason across two relief outings but his Phillies tenure damaged his outlooking heading into free agency.

The Red Sox took a similar gamble on Lucas Giolito and would be wise to invest in another lottery ticket if they refuse to spend on the aforementioned star duo of Snell and Montgomery.

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated’s new page “Inside The Red Sox.” He got his start covering the team for NESN after graduating from Merrimack College in 2021.