Buchholz can't pitch an entire year. Owens is unproven. Johnson is a 4-5 at best and more unproven than Owens. Kelly has shown just enough upside that he should be pitching out of the pen.
No, but it's the exact reason that you can spend more know while they are cheap. Ortiz will be gone next year (maybe). Pedroia will be traded (definitely). Fretting about signing a bonafide ace just doesn't make much sense to me.
They flip flopped every year since 2011. It just seems like they don't have a clear path. Maybe having DUMBrowski on board can help that. Aside from 2013, there has been a lot of horrible baseball played since September 2011.
If the Sox only get one SP this offseason, my rotation would be:
Price
Rodriguez
Porcello
Miley
Owens
Kelly would be in the pen. Buchholz gets traded.
I'd rather get two SPs and have Porcello and Miley be the 4-5.
Depth doesn't win a WS, the front end of the rotation does. Right now, Rodriguez is the best pitcher on the staff. Unless they sign Price, Cueto and Zimmerman, there's no reason to have Rodriguez start in AAA.