Daily Red Sox Links: Rich Hill, James Paxton, Rafael Devers

It’s kind of a perfect metaphor for Major League Baseball that, right as the league is reaching an exciting point in the offseason and positive things are happening for the sport, they are imposing a lockout. But it’s where we are, and there is plenty of work to do to get this league to where it needs to be. (Peter Abraham; Boston Globe)

Full BreakingT Shirt Collection

Take a look at the entire shirt collection from our friends over at BreakingT, including the one pictured above.

Eventually the lockout will be over and the transaction freeze will be over, and then next offseason will come. It is almost assuredly not going to match this one as the lockout created a unique circumstance, begging the question of whether or not some sort of offseason deadline would be good for the game. (Brittany Ghiroli; The Athletic)

Sean McAdam breaks down the move for the Boston Red Sox adding James Paxton to their rotation picture. (Sean McAdam; Boston Sports Journal)

There are some real similarities between the move to bring in Paxton and the Tampa Bay Rays signing Nathan Eovaldi all those years back. (Christopher Smith; Masslive)

Ian Browne’s latest mailbag covers such topics as the decision to extend one or both players on the left side of the infield. (Ian Browne; RedSox.com)