Red Sox not 'actively looking' to trade for pitching

Opinion around the league is that the Red Sox need another starter for the top-half of the rotation. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski, who is certainly more talkative than we're used to seeing from a Boston executive, doesn't agree, though. Dombrowski told FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal that the Red Sox aren't "actively looking" to make a deal for pitching.

This is not a huge surprise, especially when you consider Dombrowski's other quote on the matter: ""I don't even know where we would put him." The Red Sox have David Price at the top of the rotation, then Clay Buchholz in the number two slot. They need to find out what Rick Porcello is going to be since he has five years and $82.5 million on his deal. Eduardo Rodriguez is missing from the start of the season, sure, but he's a potential number two arm who thrived in his rookie campaign -- he's set to pitch far, far more of the season than he won't, and he might be even better than in 2015.

Joe Kelly is still something of a question mark, yes, but it has to be said that, if he's going to eschew topping out his velocity in favor of having more command of what he throws, he's going to do just fine as a starter even in the AL East.

Then, you've got Steven Wright, who could likely start for a number of teams in the league. There's Henry Owens, who would probably be in the majors if he were in an organization that didn't have at least six options in front of him. Roenis Elias started for the Mariners in 2015, and while he's sort of just a guy, the Sox have to put him in Triple-A if they want to keep him starting. Brian Johnson might end up being the best of the bunch, and he's something of an afterthought in the team's depth. Like Dombrowski said, where are you going to put another arm?

It should be noted, too, that Dombrowski isn't saying the Sox are set forever. He went as far as to say "Can you always be better? Sure." The thing is, March and April isn't the time for it. The rotation the Sox have assembled -- especially when Rodriguez returns -- deserves a chance to show that they're the rotation the Sox can rely on. If, after a couple of months, it looks like Porcello is still full of bad habits or Kelly isn't the starter the Sox want him to be, then Dombrowski will surely find room for that starter the anonymous scouts think Boston needs. Until then, like Dombrowski, let's give this talented group a shot to see if they can do what's not only expected, but needed of them.