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The one thing, besides hiring a new GM, Dave Dombrowski needs to do this off season is to get an Ace for the staff. Realistically, he only has two ways to do this seeing that there currently isn’t an internal option. He can either trade for the new Red Sox ace or sign one of the available free agents. Given the high number of quality free agent ace-caliber starters, your average sports betting picks would likely be signing a free agent; therefore, we will focus this article on those options with the help of our friends over at PointAfter.com.

This does assume that Greinke does in fact opt out of his current contract with the Dodgers and that Dombrowski is both willing and able to spend top dollar as well as having approval to do so from the Boston brass.

First a few concerns. There is Cueto’s poor play in the AL with the Royals down the stretch after playing most of his career in the NL. Is it the natural adjustment to the AL or is he one of the many pitchers who are obviously better pitching in the NL. Which type of player is Cueto? He also has only gotten 15 or more wins twice. On the other hand, Greinke has a past history of anxiety issues playing in bigger markets and he’d need to be cured of that problem before the Red Sox could even consider signing him to a contract the size he will demand. Given Boston’s pressure cooker-like media and fan pressure you have to wonder if Greinke could have a relapse that saw him lose 17 games back in 2005 as stated in these articles from ESPN’s 2013 article and AboutHealth article just last month. This may be a stretch, but Zimmermann has never played in a big market either and he has only earned over 15 wins once in his career, but is that because of a few of the bad Nats teams he played on pre-Bryce? Advantage Price!

Now the pros. David Price has shown that he can succeed in the AL East in his stints with the Rays and more recently with the Blue Jays – even in the playoffs with the Rays (and soon to be with the Jays this post-season). Greinke has seemed to have put his demons behind him since 2009 and hasn’t seemed to have looked back since! Zimmermann on the other hand has been a key cog in the recent successes of the Nationals over the past few years. Lastly, Cueto has impressed over the last few seasons, aside from some of his most recent poor starts, has put together an Ace-like resume.

My conclusion comes down to either Zack Greinke or David Price. Therefore, because of my fear that the intensity of the Boston fans and media might melt Greinke, coupled with the prior success of Price in the AL East, my choice for 2016 Red Sox ace has to be David Price.

Anyone care to second guess my reasoning, please start up a friendly conversation in our comments section below!

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