Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta

In the end, Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow was right. He took a gamble on extending a one-year, $21 million qualifying offer to inconsistent starting pitcher Nick Pivetta, betting that the market for Pivetta was robust enough for the longtime Boston righty to turn the offer down.

It was a risk–Pivetta had the choice of simply taking the offer and guaranteeing himself a sizable 2025 payday, allowing himself to hit the free-agent market again next winter.

At the time the Red Sox made the offer, MassLive beat writer Chris Cotillo said on “The Fenway Rundown” podcast, “The big news is a development I would describe as shocking. … Nick Pivetta gets the qualifying offer from the Red Sox. That was interesting just because it wasn’t, as the kids say, on the bingo card.”

But Breslow knew there was likely a multi-year market for a pitcher of Pivetta’s talent, and he knew that if Pivetta turned down the Red Sox’s QO, the team would be in line for a late second-round pick as compensation in next year’s draft.

Red Sox’s Nick Pivetta Makes it Official

On Tuesday, the MLB deadline for qualifying offer decisions, Pivetta informed the Red Sox that, after five seasons and a 37-41 record with a 4.29 ERA, he would be hitting the open market. That likely means the Red Sox are moving on from the 31-year-old as they look for better options in free agency.

According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Red Sox–in addition to involving themselves in the Juan Soto sweepstakes–are looking to add a top-line starter to the mix, too. Passan mentioned Atlanta’s Max Fried and Blake Snell of the Giants as possible Red Sox targets.

Either would be a big boost at the top of the rotation.

By the end of the Boston’s 2024 season, it was clear they had three rotation pieces in place: Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and perhaps the best of the bunch, Tanner Houck. They also have last year’s top pitching signing, Lucas Giolito, who injured his elbow in spring training, waiting in the wings.

But the Red Sox need top-line talent, and they need depth. That’s why they’re considered among the front-runners to make a trade for coveted White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet, as well as signing the likes of Snell or Fried. Dropping those two at the top of a rotation with Bello, Crawford and Houck (who would likely be dealt to Chicago as part of a Crochet trade) would give the Red Sox a big arms race lead.

It’s a longshot that they get both. But the impending departure of Pivetta, at least, creates room for them to chase the big names.