But there was little mention of Pivetta, who has forged an impressive 29 percent strikeout rate and 6 percent walk rate in 2024, but whose home run vulnerability has led to an ERA of around 4.14 average in the league. Additionally, his workload had been limited to 145⅔ innings due to a forearm issue early in the season.

Still, Pivetta’s pitch mix — his four-seam fastball with excellent top-of-the-zone drive, his curveball and sweeper — ranks among the elite. And sometimes he played accordingly, including a season-ending snap in six starts in which he had a 2.62 ERA.

“We definitely saw periods where he was just dominant,” Sox director of baseball Craig Breslow said. “He’s a guy who has performed well in this market and has all the underlying metrics. He gets a ton of swing-and-misses. It’s not working guys. He can get guys to throw in the strike zone. So when you think about what a major league starting pitcher needs to be able to do to be successful, he has a lot of those ingredients.

While the qualifying offer does not guarantee Pivetta’s return to the Sox, it does make such an outcome more likely. Other teams should now a) make Pivetta a more attractive offer than a one-year, $21.05 million contract and b) sacrifice one or potentially two first-round picks to sign the right-hander.

If Pivetta doesn’t accept the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, the Sox would get a compensatory pick late in the second round — which could make it more comfortable for the team to trade up from its prospect pool.

But if he accepts it, the Sox will have the opportunity to proceed in a number of directions as they try to develop their rotation. For example, the team could consider adding a pitcher who would improve the top of its rotation and then either deal Pivetta or another member of the 2024 rotation to fill other needs. Or, the team could simply continue to increase their pitching and move starters to the bullpen in case of surplus.

“I’m not going to be the guy that goes on record saying you can have enough pitches, too many pitches. (It doesn’t exist). . . . The goal is to build the strongest team possible, and we have to be flexible, we have to be open to a number of paths to get there,” Breslow said. “I don’t think anything is out of place. I think we’ll continue to explore how we improve the rotation, how we improve the pitching staff.

Pivetta has until Nov. 19 to decide whether to accept or reject the qualifying offer — time during which he can discuss deals with all 30 clubs, including the Sox. He may also continue to discuss potential deals with the Sox even if he rejects the qualifying offer.

Pivetta was one of 13 players to receive a qualifying offer. O’Neill – who hit .241/.336/.511 with 31 home runs in 113 games – was not, despite the sorely needed thunder against left-handed pitchers (.313/.430/.750), and even if Breslow continues to identify more balance in the lineup as a central offseason pursuit.

The team made moves to retain a valuable platoon contributor, exercising a $2.1 million option to bring back outfielder Rob Refsnyder. Although Refsnyder raised the possibility of retiring mid-seasonthe Sox confirmed that the 33-year-old – who hit .283/.359/.471 in 2024, including a .302/.393/.548 line against lefties while continuing his role as a key veteran voice in the clubhouse – will play next year.

“We checked that box,” Breslow said.

The team will continue to look for more right-handed kickers, ways to improve interior defense, starters and especially relievers. After a season in which the Sox’s playoff hopes were torpedoed by a bullpen collapse after the All-Star break, and with the team’s two most reliable late-inning contributors – Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin – Now having reached free agency, the Sox are looking to rebuild their late-inning structure.

Liam Hendriks (who did not pitch in 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery) and Justin Slaten represent late-game candidates, and the Sox were encouraged by the season-ending performance by Greg Weissert, but the team plans to pursue more. high leverage arm.

“We have work to do,” Bresow said. “We need to figure out how to preserve leads. We saw the impact it can have on us in the second half. . . . It will certainly be necessary to make some additions. It remains to be seen whether this is a real rapprochement or a lever of leverage that we think we can deploy at the end of the game.”

The underlying motivation for the team’s offseason moves, Breslow said, will be to improve big-league rosters in a way that not only makes the team better, but also propels it to a point of observation from where the titles are visible.

“I think (this offseason) is different (than last offseason). I think it should be different. I know a lot more about the organization. I think we know a lot more about our players. So, being better informed allows us to make better decisions,” Breslow said at the start of his second general managers meeting as Red Sox chief baseball officer. “Ultimately, our goal is to provide fans with a team that can win the World Series every year. We are approaching this offseason that way.

Alex Speier can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @alexspeier.