The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with one potential hole to fill in their starting rotation. If Nick Pivetta does not accept Boston's qualifying offer — a one-year, $21.05 million contract for 2025 — they will be even more motivated to dip into the free agent market or trade talks to improve a relatively weak rotation.
Red Sox starters went 47-51 in 2024, while their relievers went 34-30.
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The rotation was dealt a setback in March when Lucas Giolito — whom the Red Sox signed as a veteran rotation anchor in January — suffered a season-ending elbow injury.
Giolito can help the Red Sox plenty by having a healthy season in 2025. He might also help them with a very different kind of pitch.
Giolito is friends with Max Fried, his former high school teammate and one of the top free agent starters in this year's class. He was recently asked on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast whether he's recruited Fried to Boston.
"I feel like I've said everything that can be said," Giolito told host Rob Bradford. "At the end of the day you've got to pay the guy. You've got to pay the man. Look at his body of work. Look at his career. You know what he's worth. You've got to be willing to pay, that's what it comes down to, and I think there are a number of teams that are willing to pay."
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Fried is one of the top left-handers in a group of free agent starters that also includes southpaw Sean Manaea, right-hander Corbin Burnes, and perhaps Roki Sasaki of Japan, depending on whether the Chiba Lotte Marines allow him to leave NPB for Major League Baseball.
Fried, 31, started 29 games last year for the Braves and pitched to a 3.25 ERA (3.33 FIP) over 174.1 innings.
Giolito, for his part, believes Boston could be an aggressive bidder this winter.
"Based on what I'm seeing the Red Sox are getting right into that mix, which is great to see because we have a really good core — young, talented players to really build a strong team around," he said. "We'll see what happens."
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Giolito noted that he, Pivetta and Fried all share an agent. CAA's Ryan Hamill has in the past helped to organize offseason workouts for his three clients.
"I'm trying to, like, be in the know but at the same time — and obviously it would be great if everybody came to the Red Sox, like, 'cool, all my buddies are around' — but given the nature of baseball and how the business works, I want to see my friends get paid as well," he said. "I want them to go where they're comfortable. We'll see how it all works out."
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