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Lake Shore Drive
Your retarted
There are maybe 6 or 7 starting pitchers worthy of the Sox pursuit. The top two, Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, I'm guessing will not be on Hahn's pursuit list. But that leaves a few notables who he should go after:
Zack Wheeler - He's been climbing the rankings almost from the day the World Series officially ended, and is ranked as the #3 FA starting pitcher and overall #4 ranked free agent. There are now reportedly more teams interested in Wheeler than Cole and Strasburg combined, altho that's largely due to the affordability factor. The trouble is, this means the Sox will have just that much more competition in bidding for his services. But if I had to pick a #1 realistic target for the Good Guys to chase, Wheeler would be the guy.
Jake Odorizzi - The market doesn't seem to be nearly as robust for Jake, so he may just be the best shot of the Sox signing a starter this offseason. And if we did, it would be both addition by addition as well as addition by subtraction, with the Twins loss being our direct gain.
Hyun-Jin Ryu - Another quality starter who's not generating a lot of press, he may be a bit past it in the age department at 33, but he'd be worth pursuing on a 3-4 year contract with a club option after say year 2.
Honorable mentions: Madison Bumgarner & Dallas Keuchel - I have these two listed as the type of pitchers with excellent histories, who are past their prime, yet could be the perfect fit for a team that might just be one or two players away from reaching the promised land. I just don't think that's the Sox, at least not yet.
Zack Wheeler - He's been climbing the rankings almost from the day the World Series officially ended, and is ranked as the #3 FA starting pitcher and overall #4 ranked free agent. There are now reportedly more teams interested in Wheeler than Cole and Strasburg combined, altho that's largely due to the affordability factor. The trouble is, this means the Sox will have just that much more competition in bidding for his services. But if I had to pick a #1 realistic target for the Good Guys to chase, Wheeler would be the guy.
Jake Odorizzi - The market doesn't seem to be nearly as robust for Jake, so he may just be the best shot of the Sox signing a starter this offseason. And if we did, it would be both addition by addition as well as addition by subtraction, with the Twins loss being our direct gain.
Hyun-Jin Ryu - Another quality starter who's not generating a lot of press, he may be a bit past it in the age department at 33, but he'd be worth pursuing on a 3-4 year contract with a club option after say year 2.
Honorable mentions: Madison Bumgarner & Dallas Keuchel - I have these two listed as the type of pitchers with excellent histories, who are past their prime, yet could be the perfect fit for a team that might just be one or two players away from reaching the promised land. I just don't think that's the Sox, at least not yet.