The Boston Red Sox are looking to add starting pitching this offseason, with the emphasis being on adding a left-handed starter. They’ve already seen two left-handed pitchers, Blake Snell and Yusei Kikuchi, come off the board to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels, respectively.

That leaves the Red Sox with two ace-caliber lefties on the market. One is the Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried, who’s a free agent. Boston starting pitcher Lucas Giolito was a high school teammate of Fried’s.

The other top lefty on the market is Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet. Jim Bowden of The Athletic expects the Red Sox to pursue Crochet in a blockbuster trade this winter.

“The rebuilding White Sox are committed to trading Crochet in an effort to acquire controllable everyday players who improve their offense for both the short term and long term,” Bowden wrote. “They match up well with teams like the Orioles and Dodgers but maybe match up the best with the Red Sox. A package led by Gold Glove-winning right fielder Wilyer Abreu, first baseman Triston Casas, and catcher Connor Wong is probably close to what would work for both teams.”

The Red Sox and the White Sox match up pretty perfectly on this deal. I doubt that Boston would be willing to give up more than one of the three big leaguers that Bowden listed above, though.

In reality, the potential trade would likely be one of the three guys listed and a package of prospects to bring Crochet in. Something like that would work perfectly for both sides.