Thirteen months ago, amid a big-game hunt for a front-line starter, Craig Breslow pulled off such a successful pivot that even Ross Geller would blush. The Red Sox are hoping history repeats itself this winter, too.<\/p>\n
Last December, just a couple days after being outbid by the Yankees for top free agent starter Max Fried, the Red Sox re-engaged the White Sox in trade talks for Garrett Crochet and quickly landed him for a four-player package headlined by Kyle Teel<\/a>. That move, then Crochet\u2019s subsequent extension in early April, could not have worked out better for the Red Sox in Year 1, as the southpaw was the staff\u2019s bonafide ace from the jump and finished second in the Cy Young race. Seemingly, the Red Sox didn\u2019t get their first choice back then, but things worked out great. Now, it\u2019s up to Ranger Su\u00e1rez, signed less than four days after Alex Bregman\u2019s departure to the Cubs<\/a>, to prove, once again, that Plan B can be A-OK.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not like Su\u00e1rez\u2019s name is one that was first mentioned in Red Sox circles this week \u2014 one key official, in reciting his realistic wish list for the club in early November, included Su\u00e1rez as the major rotation addition alongside a Bregman reunion and another big bat \u2014 but it\u2019s clear a potential deal with him had been on the back-burner for weeks. The Red Sox\u2019 opening winter salvo, an out-of-nowhere trade for Sonny Gray right before Thanksgiving, re-shuffled the plans a bit, as team executives did not expect another major rotation addition (not counting a depth move like Johan Oviedo) before Opening Day. That stance was two-fold. One, the club believed in Gray\u2019s projections enough to consider him a real No. 2 to Crochet. Two, there was a strong assumption that common ground would eventually be found with Bregman, meaning it was time for the club to get that deal done while adding another bat to the mix (Willson Contreras).<\/p>\n An offseason that netted the Red Sox the trio of Gray, Contreras and Bregman, plus an upside play in Oviedo, was the cleanest path as of two weeks ago, and would have been viewed as a success. But Boston\u2019s best-laid plans were ruined Saturday when the Cubs poached Bregman away. Suddenly, it was time to pivot.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s organizational meetings \u2014 with everyone in town after Saturday\u2019s Fenway Fest event \u2014 were focused on talking through potential pitching additions, sources said, and the Red Sox quickly let word out that they were looking for a top arm, preferably left-handed. When that word reached Scott Boras, the superagent was ready to pounce. After weeks of back-and-forth about Bregman, Boras knew the Red Sox had money to burn (what was left over from the failed $165 million offer to Bregman) and fans to appease. A deal with Su\u00e1rez, quite obviously, was reached rather quickly.<\/p>\n