This is a very INTERESTING development for the Boston Red Sox...

This is a very interesting development surrounding the Boston Red Sox and specifically their starting rotation that stood out amongst all of baseball's last year. I'm here to break down how Sonny Gray has a huge implication on this Red Sox organization this offseason, and he might not even be back, and that might be the biggest reason why. I'll break down how if Sonny Gray does not return and why it seems extremely likely he doesn't return, who the Boston Red Sox could turn to to go out and really continue to bolster this starting rotation with someone who had a career half a year this past season. We'll break down all of the moving parts on this episode of Red Sox Digest, so let's not waste any time and get right to it, breaking down the Tyler Molle conversation, as this one is a bit interesting. This young man was not the greatest player last year until he got to the Atlanta Braves organization for a player that was traded to San Francisco and immediately sent to the minor leagues. Molly, on the other hand, walked into Atlanta with a north of five ERA and immediately learned how to pitch again and turned into arguably the ace outside of Chris Sale, obviously for the Atlanta Braves. And he was absolutely phenomenal. It's actually kind of insane to think how much better he got. In San Fran, if you look there at the bottom of the page, he played in, what, 18, 19 games. He goes 3-9 in the sense of win and loss with a 5.12 ERA. Compared to when he gets to Atlanta in five games played, he goes 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA. The difference in production is just mind-boggling. And then they go to the postseason because Atlanta won 93 or 94 games. They beat the Philadelphia Phillies. They then lose in four to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tyler Molle was the guy who got the ball in an elimination game, a win-or-go-home game, against the LA Dodgers. He goes 0-1 in the postseason, but it doesn't show the entire picture. He pitches in 13 and thirds innings, and he has a 1-3-5 ERA against the Philadelphia Phillies in October and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tyler Molle got sent to Atlanta for a prospect. A prospect that ended up going straight to the minor leagues, walked into Atlanta and became a legitimate piece, a backbone to that starting rotation due to the injuries Atlanta had been dealing with all season long, especially in the pitching realm of things, but specifically the starting rotation. So let's break down a few of the moving parts involving the Red Sox, Sonny Gray, and why Molle could be a possible option. while we're breaking this all down keep in mind a yes if the deal is short b only on a low cost prove it deal or c pass and target another starter and let us know down below one of those three options down below in the comments based off of what we are breaking down on Tyler Molle and what you would expect this upcoming offseason from the Boston Red Sox so first things first the October versus the regular season numbers for Tyler Molle obviously the WAR does go down as he posted a zero WAR in the postseason which is interesting despite pitching to a 1.35 ERA but then innings pitched again shouldn't even be a metric up there the ERA going from a 3.99 to a 1.35 in the postseason compared to the regular season is fantastic you look at his WHIP 1.23 to a 0.82 and then finally strikeouts per nine he is not someone that has to live and die by the strikeout he has a fastball he has a splitter and really outside of that there's not much to his repertoire like I'll pull up his pitch mix now but it's really that two pitch mix that he lives and dies by he loves that four-seam fastball despite not having ridiculous fastball velocity and he pairs it with a splitter that can fall off a table and create a huge amount of problems for any batter batting from the left or right side because it simply just disappears when it feels like it's over the box it's not it just it spikes almost and he he really used it to his advantage he was able to throw it for strikes early in counts he's able to get ahead of guys and then you really don't know what's coming and he can even throw that fastball down and away to lefty or right-handed batters and because they're all thinking it's splitter and it's going to continue to fall off the table it catches the bottom part of the zone and becomes a very very good pitcher's pitch and honestly i'm a fan of Tyler Molly am i saying he's the best pitcher in baseball by no means am i saying that he deserves to get a supermax contract because of how he performed with Atlanta in a second half of a season and went out there and proved himself absolutely not but when he was in Atlanta there was a huge huge belief in confidence placed upon him Walt Wise goes on to say you got Sale and Molly tomorrow or you still have you got Sale and Molly still tomorrow a much more rested bullpen i don't have any worries about having enough pitching we've got plenty he only mentioned two starters there and he couldn't be more confident in his abilities if you look at if you speak to molly about his his actual attack you just make pitches that's All you can do out there is make pitches. I'm not trying to trick them. They know. They've seen me. He understands. These guys are very good at what they do. He understands they know how to play the professional game of baseball and perform at a high level as an offensive player, as a batter in the box against someone who only tops out at 93-94, who lives on a breaking ball that they know he throws. It doesn't matter. I trust my stuff. I'm going to go out there, and I'm going to throw it, and I'm going to have confidence in it. Quique Hernandez spoke out during the postseason just over a week ago when they were facing Molly. And he says, ever since he got acquired by Atlanta, he's been throwing the ball really well. We can't think of him as anything inferior than Sale. Speaking about Chris Sale, who just is undeniable and one of the best pitchers walking the earth right now, especially as a lefty with the arm delivery that he has. it has just been it's just been really really fun to watch this young man come out there get an opportunity and actually provide and actually go out there and produce at the level he has because based off of what we witnessed from his tenure in san francisco it was over like it it went from being the mid to low or mid to high twos to the high fours the low fours the mid to high threes you know he was good but he wasn't great by any means and then he got to san fran on a one-year deal that he signed in order to where did I put that I put it somewhere where did I put it his actual breakdown of his contract he he signs to San Fran and then following that he gets traded and he gets traded for what he gets traded for a prospect Anthony Molina who gets immediately put down in the minor leagues he signed a one-year deal with the Giants at 10 million bucks he had a five ERA San Fran was looking to get rid of him at any cost to clear that cap room and guess what they did and when he landed in Atlanta he turned into an absolute monster and it wasn't like he was playing next to Strider, Sale, Waldrip and all these great studs that are going to free him up and allow him to be the fourth or fifth guy in a really really good starting rotation no he was the number two guy in that rotation behind only Chris Sale he got the ball in a win or go home game and he performed and it wasn't against like the Colorado Rockies or just some mediocre team this is against the Phillies and the Dodgers in October Molle could be very exciting if you look at the other pitchers it's very interesting because a lot of them are facing player options or opt-outs in a six-year contract and they're currently going to the third or fourth year and there's an opt-out available in the middle of that deal there's a lot of really cool names like Sandy Alcantara, obviously Tarik Skubal, Corbin Burns, Michael King, Sonny Gray, who if he doesn't return to Boston, I think the Tyler Molle conversation becomes abundantly more obvious and more apparent. And the reason being is because the Boston Red Sox are going to need to replace their right-handed guy. And the reason being is because Sonny Gray is the only right-hander in the starting rotation currently. Like Oviedo still hasn't played. Obviously, Tanner Houck pitched in one game for one inning, but outside of that, didn't make the postseason roster because he was not ready. You have Crochet, you have Toley, you have Jake Bennett. Like, what are you going to do? What are you going to do if you're the Boston Red Sox for your starting rotation? Are you going to bring Brayan Baeza back up and add that righty? But again, we saw what he did last season. There were moments of greatness in starts, but it was certainly after a long period of time of not being allowed in the starting rotation, It's very interesting, and Sonny Gray not returning to Boston this offseason will open a floodgate of doors and question marks surrounding the starting rotation and a possibility of going out and acquiring another righty. I think it all comes down to the overall price tag of Tyler Molle and really what his overall expectation is for the value that he's going to maintain and require in order to sign with a team this offseason. it concerns me that Boston won't be able to get him unless they overpay because I feel like there's going to be a lot of guys teams out there that are going to be willing to overpay Tyler especially because of what they saw in the second half of the season even though it was only a second half and only a five game stretch in the regular season then what three games in the post season of what we saw from Tyler they're still going to be willing to overpay for him to call him a definitive piece of their starting rotation if he's willing to take a bit of a pay cut assuming that he's going to get super paid by a mediocre team and come to a great team in Boston for less money and be a number three or four in that starting rotation and really anchor it down it could get really really interesting in Boston let me know down below your thoughts and opinions again let us know down below your overall opinions on the idea of signing Tyler Molly and again a for yes if it's a short deal b only if they low cost prove it deal or c pass and target another starter. Again, let us know down below your thoughts and opinions, and I'll see you on the next episode of Red Sox Digest.