The Closing Window

The Red Sox entered the offseason with just three acceptable starting pitchers and two good relievers under contract. The primary goal of the offseason for Ben Cherington was to acquire pitching. It is now mid-December, and the most significant pitching acquisition by the Boston Red Sox has been the signing of Jesse Carlson to a non-guaranteed contract. Good free agent targets – starters like CJ Wilson and Mark Buehrle, relievers like Heath Bell, Latroy Hawkins, and Frank Francisco – have signed elsewhere, to not-unreasonable contracts. This closing window on the acquisition of pitching talent, I think, should be understood as the context for the discussion of Daniel Bard’s reported transition to the rotation. I don’t have very much to say about Bard’s conversion because I think that all the important information is unavailable to me. If Bard’s conversion is a success, the Sox could turn a good reliever into a good starter at zero cost – in pure $$/win terms, that’s a possible...