The recent blockbuster trade for Chris Sale means the Red Sox are pretty well loaded in the rotation. In addition to Sale, $217 million-man David Price, and reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, Boston also has Eduardo Rodriguez, Steven Wright, Drew Pomeranz, and Clay Buchholz on the active roster. High-level mathematicians will note that that's seven starters competing for five spots.

Because of that seeming abundance of starting pitchers, the Sox may be looking to trade one of them. After all, rotation help is chronically in demand, and the free agent market this offseason offered very little help.

On that point, here's the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo from a wide-ranging piece on the current state of the Sox:

The Red Sox are likely making the wrong pitcher available if they're trying to maximize return. They're trying to keep Drew Pomeranz and deal Clay Buchholz. They'd like to deal Buchholz to save his $13.5 million salary, but some interested teams, such as the Royals, Twins, and Mariners, think the salary is too high and would much rather have the cost-controlled Pomeranz, who is expected to earn $4.7 million next season after arbitration.

Pomeranz in some ways is "Rich Hill Lite" -- a reconstructed lefty who relies on a curveball but has health and durability concerns. As Cafardo notes, Pomeranz's modest salary outlook makes him far more attractive on the trade market. Buchholz, meantime, tantalizes on occasion but is wildly inconsistent and is under a pricey team option for 2017.

Of course, the Sox under Dave Dombrowski have sold off a ton of long-term assets in order to contend for a World Series in the here and now. As such, they'd perhaps be better served by hanging on to all these arms in the service of putting the best team on the field in 2017. The thing about rotation depth is that you very often need it (just ask the 2016 Dodgers -- remember when folks were saying they had too many starters?).

That said, teams pay a premium in trade for starting pitchers, particularly this offseason. It's even possible the Sox can find a match that will in return give them something that can help the current roster in some way, as opposed to adding prospects. Given how invested the Red Sox are in winning the World Series in 2017, however, doing nothing may be the most prudent approach.