Pedro Martinez says getting the Red Sox back to relevance will require rotating updates

“I really need the Red Sox to represent themselves the way they used to,” Martinez said before his eighth annual charity gala Friday night. “What I’m saying is, a Yankees fan told me this year: ‘I used to love watching you pitch because we had somebody really good that we needed to beat, and that was you.’ Now it doesn’t look like we have the same push.”

“I’m going to tell my pitchers this because what really amazed me was that Yankees fans wanted to meet me because I was the one who represented the Red Sox and I represented the challenge.”

This year, the Yankees earned a berth in the World Series, marking the end of a 15-year absence. After missing last year’s postseason for the first time since 2016, the Yankees made it a priority to make a comeback, notably acquiring Juan Soto in a trade despite an expiring contract.

Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said late this season that he wants Boston to compete for the American League title. Sox manager Alex Cora has repeatedly stated that he believes this will be the team’s “last stand.” Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has noted throughout the general manager’s meetings that the club will aggressively acquire elite arms, whether through trade or free agency or both.

“It always starts with my presentation,” said Jason Varitek, who was also one of the 2004 participants along with David Ortiz and Derek Lowe. “I mean, you can never have enough pitching, and this helps make our pitching depth even deeper.

“Some guys made great strides last year and we have to continue to do that to take the next steps to get even better.”

The Sox have reportedly expressed interest in White Sox left-handed starter Garrett Crochet. This will probably require an exchange. With plenty of prospects at the top level of the team’s minor league system and young talent on the big league club, the Sox could make it work. But they shouldn’t rest on their laurels, especially with starters like Blake Snell, Max Fried and Corbin Burns now available as free agents.

“I think historically it has always been shown that having (an ace) is valuable,” Varitek said. “Whether there was a performance or not, it becomes valuable to the team. From David Price to Chris Sale, from Pedro to Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett at some point. When you have people at the top of the rotation, it makes the rest of the rotation better because the responsibility becomes theirs.”

The onus is now entirely on the Red Sox front office to assemble a true contender with fewer platoon players and more everyday position players – more top starters and fewer fringe players.

The fashionably late Ortiz thought so too.

“I will tell you that last year the team was better than I thought it would be,” Ortiz said. “So, I don’t think we’re too far away from the show. We just need to get a few to help. Hopefully they can do it and the fans will be able to return to happier times.”

…

The Pedro Martinez Gala aims to provide educational resources to underprivileged children in the Dominican Republic through the Pedro Martinez Martinez Foundation. Martinez and his wife Carolina are excited about the project’s success.

“It means a lot just because we see how much support we get from the Boston community and everything we do: trips to school, trips to medical care. It makes us want to do more and more,” he said.

---

Julian McWilliams can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @byJulianMack.