Red Sox Links: The Red Sox Need Pitching, And Look, It’s The World Cup!

By ERA, the Red Sox had the sixth-worse pitching staffing baseball last year, so fixing that has to the priority of the offseason. In that respect, Chaim Bloom says they’re “definitely looking to add pitching from the outside.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

But man, that outside pitching better include more than just Joely Rodriguez, a bullpen arm the Sox signed to a one-year deal this week. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

At the very least, newly-bearded Garrett Whitlock is on track to start the year healthy and fully recovered from hip surgery. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

How about Rhode Islander David Robertson? He’s a potential cheap target, along with Jesse Winker, Luke Voit, and others. (Chad Jennings, The Athletic)

The Red Sox may need some of those cheap additions, because there are reports that they are $80 million short of what Rafael Devers is looking for in a contract extension. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

Let’s be clear, there’s almost zero utility in looking at 2023 projections at this point, given that every team’s roster remains in flux, but hey, it’s fun — especially when ZIPS likes the Sox to get back over .500. (Dan Symborski, FanGraphs)

Anyway, we got a long way to go until Major League Baseball comes back, but there’s a pretty major sporting event going on right now, with a pretty major Team USA game kicking off this afternoon. If you’re dipping your toes into soccer for the first time, here are some pretty digestible previews of both the US Men’s National Team, and the Three Lions of England. (Defector.com)