Red Sox Can Thank Nick Pivetta If Prospect Lightning Strikes Again

The Boston Red Sox offered Nick Pivetta a qualifying offer at the start of the offseason. Whether or not it made sense at the time no longer matters. Boston got the hopeful result.

With Boston’s revamped starting rotation headlined by Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler, Pivetta found a new home in the National League West on a four-year deal with the San Diego Padres. The issued qualifying offer earned the Red Sox a compensatory draft pick when the right-hander signed elsewhere.

Sometimes, those picks can get overlooked in the grand scheme of roster construction and revamping the farm system. As for Boston, those picks of reshaped the direction of the youth movement.

The Red Sox earned compensatory draft picks in consecutive offseasons when starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez and infielder Xander Bogaerts left for the Detroit Tigers and the Padres respectively. Those picks led Boston to select Roman Anthony in 2022 and Kristian Campbell in 2023.

Those players are now the top two prospects in the Red Sox organization.

The Red Sox now hold the No. 77 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft after Pivetta’s deal with San Diego. Boston gets the next chance to replenish a talented farm system that should see its top talents in Anthony, Campbell and Marcelo Mayer graduate in 2025.