When the Boston Red Sox traded for Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Nick Pivetta ahead of the 2020 MLB trade deadline, apparently they weren't the only ones interested in acquiring his services.
According to Peter Gammons of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Rays "tried hard" to beat the Red Sox to Pivetta, and per one Rays official, the team "thinks he can be another [Tyler] Glasnow."
It's not a surprise that Bloom and the Rays would be in on the same starting pitcher candidate. Bloom worked with the Rays from 2005-2019 before taking over as the Red Sox' Chief Baseball Officer following the departure of Dave Dombrowski, so he is very familiar with that front office.
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That said, the Rays front office has a long history of finding undervalued pitchers and turning them into stars. That's exactly what they did with Glasnow, who fell out of favor with the Pittsburgh Pirates but became a quality starter in Tampa Bay. So, the fact that they were in on Pivetta is good news for the Red Sox and shows that Bloom is taking a page out of his former employer's playbook.
In his last 23 starts over two seasons, Glasnow has an 11-2 record, a 2.90 ERA, and 12.7 K/9. If Pivetta comes anywhere close to that type of production, that would be a welcome addition to the Sox rotation.
To date in his MLB career, Pivetta has largely struggled. He posted a 19-30 record with the Phillies and logged a 5.50 ERA. He did have a solid mark of 9.6 K/9 though, so there was hope that the 27-year-old would be able to turn it around. In two starts for the Red Sox last season, he posted a 2-0 record with a 1.80 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched, so perhaps that is indicative of his upside and progress.
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Whether or not Pivetta pans out, the cost of acquiring him seems well worth it. The Red Sox got Pivetta and minor league pitcher Connor Seabold, 25, from the Phillies and sent veteran relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to Philadelphia.
Workman, 32, posted a 6.92 ERA in Philly while Hembree, 32, had a 12.54 ERA with the team. Only Workman remains with the team, as Hembree had to sign a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians this offseason as a result of his poor performance.
Meanwhile, for Boston, Pivetta seems likely to start, or at least battle for a starting job, while Seabold was placed on the 40-man roster, showing that he has the potential to be a big-leaguer in the not-so-distant future.