As it stands now, the Boston Red Sox will enter the 2020 season with three starting pitchers.
That's not ideal, but it's the current reality after Thursday's news that Chris Sale will begin the year on the injured list.
So, how will the Red Sox fill out their rotation around Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi and newcomer Martin Perez?
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Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said earlier this month the team will look to add more pitching depth, and the Sale development obviously hasn't changed that stance.
Sale only is expected to miss about two weeks, so the Red Sox don't seem ready to make a reactionary signing. But considering they don't have a fifth starter anyway, adding another arm makes sense.
Which begs the question: Who's still out there?
Boston Red Sox
Here's a list of starting pitchers who remain unsigned, sorted by age (via MLB.com).
Aaron Sanchez (27)
Danny Salazar (30)
Matt Harvey (31)
Andrew Cashner (33)
Clay Buchholz (35)
Marco Estrada (36)
Clayton Richard (36)
Jason Vargas (37)
Doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?
The good news is that these pitchers could be signed for relative bargains. The bad news is that only two are 30 years old or younger and none posted very inspiring stat lines in 2019.
In fact, Buchholz isn't a terrible option compared to the rest of the list: The former Red Sox hurler struggled with the Toronto Blue Jays last season but sported a 2.01 ERA over 16 starts with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018.
Given the dry free agent market, though, it's possible Boston could look to the trade market -- the club reportedly covets Cal Quantrill in trade talks with the San Diego Padres, although that deal seems unlikely -- or an internal solution.
Ryan Weber, Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez are candidates for the fifth starter slot, and Darwinzon Hernandez could be a potential option down the road, although the Red Sox don't view him as a starter at the moment.
Long story short: Unless the Sox want to part with more assets in a trade, they won't be slotting a quality pitcher into their rotation anytime soon.