Roki Sasaki whiff makes Boston's next big rotation upgrade glaringly obvious

The Boston Red Sox finally got the frontline rotation arm they've needed for years by acquiring Garrett Crochet in a trade, and followed that up by also signing Walker Buehler. But more moves can and should be made to make Boston a legitimate AL East contender.

Despite the Crochet and Buehler additions, the Red Sox would still benefit from adding another arm to what could be one of the best rotations in all of baseball. The dream addition in that scenario would be Roki Sasaki, when taking his age and the contract he can sign into account, but the fact that Boston hasn't met with him yet suggests that's more of a pipe dream than anything.

The Red Sox haven't officially been ruled out of the Sasaki sweepstakes, but it's clear that Craig Breslow isn't done adding to his starting pitching stable. And assuming the team fails to sign the Japanese ace, it should have an easy pivot in mind.

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Roki Sasaki whiff should turn Red Sox attention to Dylan Cease

Is Dylan Cease the best pitcher available right now? Probably not. Corbin Burnes is as good as it gets, but based on the fact that he hasn't signed yet, his asking price must be outrageous. The Red Sox have money, but they also have the assets to trade for the much cheaper pitcher in Cease without breaking a sweat.

How available Cease actually is remains to be seen, but with him entering his final year of club control, it makes sense for the San Diego Padres to trade him if they think they'll lose him next offseason, much like they did with Juan Soto last winter. Cease approaching free agency could deplete his value to the point where Boston can hold onto its high-end prospects while adding an ace to pair with Crochet at the top of their rotation.

While Cease might not be Burnes, he's coming off an outstanding season which saw him post a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts and 189.1 innings of work. He was an All-Star and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young balloting. Command can elude him at times, but Cease leads the Majors in starts since becoming a full-time starter in 2020 while also ranking third in strikeouts, 10th in innings pitched and seventh in fWAR. In addition to possessing some of the best pure stuff in the sport, Cease is also as durable as they come, which would be a nice addition to a rotation that just added Crochet and Buehler - two pitchers with extensive injury histories.

Is this likely? Probably not, but if the Padres are seriously willing to part with their ace, the Red Sox should absolutely be all over trying to acquire him - especially if they miss out on Sasaki. That's the kind of move teams make when trying to win right now, which is the position Boston should be in.