MIKE MASALA
The Boston Red Sox made another addition to their starting rotation this week when they signed former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler to a one-year, $21.05 million deal.
Buehler now joins a rotation that will include Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello if/when they’re all fully good to go.
On Thursday, MLB insider Mark Feinsand shared some of the reactions to the move by MLB executives, which were pretty positive.
“If Buehler can stay healthy, he might be the best sign of the winter,” a National League executive said. “He can dominate when he’s right. Plus they didn’t have to give up a pick to sign him.”
“That’s the type of relatively low-risk/high-upside signing a club with financial resources should be making,” an NL executive said. “It gives them another playoff-caliber starter without risk to their future payroll.”
One American League executive was more in the middle about the deal.
“I like the pivot and would argue that the total cost is less significant than Fried and Castillo,” they said. “[Buehler] is a pricey gamble, but if they think that they are better at pitching development than the Dodgers, it makes sense.”
If Boston’s rotation pitches to their potential, they should be a playoff team for the first time since 2021 and could even compete for the division just a year after the New York Yankees won the American League East and went all the way to the World Series where they were coincidentally beaten by Buehler and the Dodgers.