The Boston Red Sox finished the 2023 season with a record of 78-84. The Red Sox finished in last place in the AL East for the third time in the last four years and missed the postseason for the fourth time in the last five years. Chaim Bloom was fired as a result of their consistent losing, and Craig Breslow will look to get Boston back on track.
The Red Sox should have plenty of money to spend in free agency, and also have assets they can use on the trade market. Boston has already made two big trades this offseason, sending Alex Verdugo to the Yankees in one deal and replacing him with Tyler O'Neill in another.
Plenty of more moves have to be made for the Red Sox to get back in postseason contention in an extremely difficult AL East. These three players might lose their spots with those moves being made.
3) Nick Pivetta
Nick Pivetta's Red Sox tenure has been filled with inconsistency. We saw that last season especially. He posted a 6.30 ERA in his first eight starts before being moved to the bullpen. He then excelled in relief even if he didn't like it, before eventually finding his way back into the rotation to end the year.
Pivetta's strong finish and solid numbers overall (4.04 ERA in 38 appearances) got Boston to keep him around past the non-tender deadline, but with the Red Sox looking to improve the rotation, he could be the odd-man out.
Boston has Chris Sale and Bryan Bello locked in front of him, and should have Kutter Crawford ahead on the depth chart as well. That leaves two open spots, both of which should be address with an external addition. Pivetta is fine as a back-end starter or long reliever, but he'd be rather expensive for the bullpen, and Boston would benefit more having a guy like Crawford as their fifth starter over Pivetta.
With how many teams need pitching, he wouldn't be impossible to move, and maybe they can receive a reliever in return.