This isn't 2015. There are no t-shirts.
Wade Miley. Rick Porcello. Clay Buchholz. Joe Kelly. Justin Masterson. They were all aces for that spring training six years ago. You know why? Because there was some promise in each of them, and the fan base demanded somebody pick up the business cards left behind by Jon Lester.
There are, however, the same kind of rumblings. And it's not just about 2021.
The best teams have their foundation top-of-the-rotation guy or guys and then go from there. The Red Sox paid $217 million for David Price after learning that lesson, going on to double-down with Chris Sale. They even tried to protect themselves with Nathan Eovaldi's four-year, $68 million deal.
The Dodgers. The Padres. The Mets. The Yankees. The Braves. The White Sox.
Those are your five favorites to win the World Series.
Trevor Bauer. Walker Buehler. Blake Snell. Yu Darvish. Jacob deGrom. Gerrit Cole. Mike Soroka. Max Fried. Lucas Giolito.
And this isn't just about the here and the now with these teams. Most of the elite not only have these sort of names, but have ace-in-waitings for beyond 2021.
Now, the Red Sox are actually in a much better position than they were during the Five Aces spring training. Eduardo Rodriguez turned in an ace-like season in 2019, with the Red Sox going 26-8 in his starts that year. But, like the rest of the rotation, the lefty carries more uncertainty than an ace should.
In the short term, Rodriguez has to show he can duplicate his 2019 effort after not pithing at all in 2020. (For what it's worth, he was dominant during Spring Training 1.0.) And then there is his contract status, which allows him to hit free agency after the 2021 season.
If Rodriguez walks the Red Sox will be left with Sale (who has to viewed with a wary eye considering the uncertainty Tommy John surgery always brings), Eovaldi, Garrett Richards, Martin Perez, Nick Pivetta and the promise of Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata and potentially Jason Groome.
The best free agent starter after Rodriguez heading into next season? Maybe Noah Syndergaard. I guess Trevor Bauer could opt-out. The point is, don't hold your breath finding certainty going that route.
As the last two world champion Red Sox teams discovered, the preferred approach to building a winner is having that no-holds-barred ace -- such as Lester in 2013 and the combo of Sale/Price in 2018 -- and then building with perhaps a bit of unknown after that.
This could very well work out for the Red Sox. At least they have potential, which wasn't really the case in 2020. But just know a priority should be to find out who that guy will be sooner rather than later.
"I feel like we have a really good rotation and when Sale gets back it’s going to be way better," Rodriguez said. "I was going to say don’t sleep on us because we’re coming in really good. I feel really good. I’ve been out there the past three days with the guys and we look really good."
