The bleak outlook as the Red Sox look for quality starting pitching

The public outcry  is "Dombrowski has to go get the Red Sox an ace". Sounds good. Just go do it Dave.

However, what is the reality of acquiring an ace or close to an ace in the current MLB climate?

Not good. Players are tied up to team friendly contracts at a young age much more than ever. There is a major shortage of all pitching, especially quality starting pitching. There aren't any good rentals heading to free agency.

So whom would be Dombrowski be looking at?

Let's start with 2016 starting pitchers who have made at least 10 starts and have a 4.00 ERA or less.

61 pitchers qualify in MLB. Sorted by team.

PLAYER	AGE	TM	GS	W	L	W-L%	IP	H	HR	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
Zack Greinke	32	ARI	17	10	3	0.769	109.33	106	12	44	21	91	3.62	1.16
Julio Teheran	25	ATL	17	3	7	0.300	112.67	81	15	34	24	105	2.72	0.93
Chris Tillman	28	BAL	18	11	2	0.846	106.33	93	14	42	38	93	3.55	1.23
Steven Wright	31	BOS	17	10	5	0.667	114	95	7	34	43	94	2.68	1.21
Rick Porcello	27	BOS	17	10	2	0.833	106	105	13	45	21	92	3.82	1.19
Jake Arrieta	30	CHC	17	12	3	0.800	108.33	73	5	28	42	115	2.33	1.06
John Lackey	37	CHC	17	7	5	0.583	110.67	86	12	43	34	111	3.50	1.08
Jon Lester	32	CHC	17	9	4	0.692	107.67	88	14	32	25	105	2.67	1.05
Kyle Hendricks	26	CHC	16	7	6	0.538	96.67	75	8	28	26	85	2.61	1.04
Jason Hammel	33	CHC	16	7	5	0.583	91.33	76	13	35	29	73	3.45	1.15
Chris Sale	27	CHW	17	14	2	0.875	120	94	14	39	24	118	2.92	0.98
Jose Quintana	27	CHW	17	6	8	0.429	111.67	98	9	38	27	100	3.06	1.12
Corey Kluber	30	CLE	17	8	8	0.500	114	92	9	48	27	114	3.79	1.04
Danny Salazar	26	CLE	16	10	3	0.769	99	69	8	26	44	113	2.36	1.14
Trevor Bauer	25	CLE	12	7	2	0.778	95.33	78	7	32	33	87	3.02	1.16
Carlos Carrasco	29	CLE	11	5	2	0.714	69.33	55	10	19	18	68	2.47	1.05
Josh Tomlin	31	CLE	16	9	2	0.818	100	101	21	39	11	68	3.51	1.12
Tyler Chatwood	26	COL	15	8	4	0.667	90.67	79	6	31	33	57	3.08	1.24
Michael Fulmer	23	DET	13	9	2	0.818	76.67	57	6	18	27	72	2.11	1.10
Jordan Zimmermann	30	DET	15	9	4	0.692	95.67	101	8	42	18	60	3.95	1.24
Doug Fister	32	HOU	16	8	5	0.615	98.33	93	15	40	33	64	3.66	1.28
Ian Kennedy	31	KCR	17	6	7	0.462	99.67	86	21	44	33	103	3.97	1.19
Danny Duffy	27	KCR	10	4	1	0.800	75.33	63	11	26	16	87	3.11	1.05
Nick Tropeano	25	LAA	11	3	2	0.600	60.33	62	10	22	29	58	3.28	1.51
Clayton Kershaw	28	LAD	16	11	2	0.846	121	79	6	24	9	145	1.79	0.73
Kenta Maeda	28	LAD	17	7	6	0.538	96.67	80	9	33	31	94	3.07	1.15
Alex Wood	25	LAD	10	1	4	0.200	56.33	55	5	25	19	62	3.99	1.31
Bud Norris	31	LAD/ATL	12	4	7	0.364	91.33	76	7	36	31	73	3.98	1.17
Jose Fernandez	23	MIA	16	10	4	0.714	100.33	72	7	30	31	146	2.69	1.03
Adam Conley	26	MIA	17	5	5	0.500	93.67	85	8	38	39	87	3.65	1.32
Jimmy Nelson	27	MIL	17	5	7	0.417	101	94	12	41	44	74	3.65	1.37
Junior Guerra	31	MIL	12	6	1	0.857	76.67	55	7	25	23	67	2.93	1.02
Noah Syndergaard	23	NYM	16	9	3	0.750	101	92	5	27	15	123	2.41	1.06
Jacob deGrom	28	NYM	15	5	4	0.556	93	81	9	27	22	91	2.61	1.11
Steven Matz	25	NYM	15	7	4	0.636	89	89	9	33	19	85	3.34	1.21
Bartolo Colon	43	NYM	16	7	4	0.636	94	93	10	30	17	63	2.87	1.17
Masahiro Tanaka	27	NYY	17	6	2	0.750	112.33	98	9	39	20	88	3.12	1.05
CC Sabathia	35	NYY	14	5	6	0.455	82.67	77	6	32	32	70	3.48	1.32
Rich Hill	36	OAK	12	8	3	0.727	70	52	2	18	26	80	2.31	1.11
Jeremy Hellickson	29	PHI	18	6	6	0.500	105.67	100	16	46	27	93	3.92	1.20
Jerad Eickhoff	25	PHI	17	6	9	0.400	103.67	100	13	38	27	91	3.30	1.23
Vincent Velasquez	24	PHI	14	7	2	0.778	72.67	66	9	27	24	87	3.34	1.24
Gerrit Cole	25	PIT	12	5	4	0.556	68.33	70	3	21	20	55	2.77	1.32
Drew Pomeranz	27	SDP	16	7	7	0.500	95	65	8	28	39	109	2.65	1.09
Taijuan Walker	23	SEA	16	4	7	0.364	86	80	18	35	18	80	3.66	1.14
Felix Hernandez	30	SEA	10	4	4	0.500	63	51	6	20	26	53	2.86	1.22
Madison Bumgarner	26	SFG	18	9	4	0.692	120.67	92	12	28	31	132	2.09	1.02
Johnny Cueto	30	SFG	18	13	1	0.929	131.33	107	6	36	24	115	2.47	1.00
Jeff Samardzija	31	SFG	17	8	5	0.615	111	107	14	49	24	84	3.97	1.18
Carlos Martinez	24	STL	16	7	6	0.538	102.33	84	7	33	32	80	2.90	1.13
Cole Hamels	32	TEX	17	9	2	0.818	107.67	97	15	35	41	105	2.93	1.28
Colby Lewis	36	TEX	15	6	1	0.857	98	81	13	35	19	61	3.21	1.02
Martin Perez	25	TEX	18	7	5	0.583	107.67	107	11	46	46	52	3.85	1.42
Marco Estrada	32	TOR	16	5	3	0.625	104.33	64	14	34	39	99	2.93	0.99
Aaron Sanchez	23	TOR	17	9	1	0.900	113.33	99	10	37	35	99	2.94	1.18
J.A. Happ	33	TOR	17	11	3	0.786	106.67	97	13	42	31	80	3.54	1.20
R.A. Dickey	41	TOR	18	6	9	0.400	109.67	105	20	48	38	78	3.94	1.30
Max Scherzer	31	WSN	18	9	6	0.600	120.67	85	21	43	32	155	3.21	0.97
Stephen Strasburg	27	WSN	15	11	0	1.000	99.67	75	10	30	28	123	2.71	1.03
Tanner Roark	29	WSN	18	8	5	0.615	114.33	105	7	39	35	99	3.07	1.22
Joe Ross	23	WSN	16	7	4	0.636	95.33	94	8	37	26	79	3.49	1.26

You say wow, that is a lot. Dave can surely get 1 of 61. Not so fast. Now let's look at the list shrink as we eliminate any team that is within 3 games of the Wild Card berth.

Now we are down to 15 Starting pitchers. Sorted by team.

PLAYER	AGE	TM	GS	W	L	W-L%	IP	H	HR	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
Zack Greinke	32	ARI	17	10	3	0.769	109.33	106	12	44	21	91	3.62	1.16
Julio Teheran	25	ATL	17	3	7	0.300	112.67	81	15	34	24	105	2.72	0.93
Tyler Chatwood	26	COL	15	8	4	0.667	90.67	79	6	31	33	57	3.08	1.24
Nick Tropeano	25	LAA	11	3	2	0.600	60.33	62	10	22	29	58	3.28	1.51
Jimmy Nelson	27	MIL	17	5	7	0.417	101	94	12	41	44	74	3.65	1.37
Junior Guerra	31	MIL	12	6	1	0.857	76.67	55	7	25	23	67	2.93	1.02
Masahiro Tanaka	27	NYY	17	6	2	0.750	112.33	98	9	39	20	88	3.12	1.05
CC Sabathia	35	NYY	14	5	6	0.455	82.67	77	6	32	32	70	3.48	1.32
Rich Hill	36	OAK	12	8	3	0.727	70	52	2	18	26	80	2.31	1.11
Jeremy Hellickson	29	PHI	18	6	6	0.500	105.67	100	16	46	27	93	3.92	1.20
Jerad Eickhoff	25	PHI	17	6	9	0.400	103.67	100	13	38	27	91	3.30	1.23
Vincent Velasquez	24	PHI	14	7	2	0.778	72.67	66	9	27	24	87	3.34	1.24
Drew Pomeranz	27	SDP	16	7	7	0.500	95	65	8	28	39	109	2.65	1.09
Taijuan Walker	23	SEA	16	4	7	0.364	86	80	18	35	18	80	3.66	1.14
Felix Hernandez	30	SEA	10	4	4	0.500	63	51	6	20	26	53	2.86	1.22

So there, my friends are what Dombrowski has to work with. That is one ugly list. Except for Greinke or Hernandez (both on DL), which pitcher says pennant to you. My answer is zero.

The Red Sox needed the NY Mets or Cleveland Indians to implode offensively to the point they were desperate for hitting. If they did, it was going to cost the Red Sox. Those teams would want MLB ready hitters, meaning Betts, Bogaerts or JBJ.

Tough road ahead for Dave.