NASHVILLE -- Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spent these Winter Meetings in hot pursuit of starting pitching. He leaves with that pursuit still on the front burner.

At some point, the pitching market will move, and when it does, Breslow will be ready to pounce.

“In a perfect world, we're walking out of here with starting pitching and we feel really good about that. We've tried to advance the ball as much as possible,” Breslow said. “We're probably not alone in being a little bit disappointed on that front. But obviously we were able to make the trade yesterday, get back three arms that we can add to the organization. And we remain active in all paths so my hope is things start to shake free here shortly, but we can only control what we can control.”

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The next couple of weeks should be busy as the Sox look to improve a roster that finished 78-84 the past two seasons.

Here is where things stand as Breslow and his front-office contingent head back to Boston:

DEAL DONE 

Outfielder Alex Verdugo was traded to the Yankees for right-hander Greg Weissert and Minor League righties Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice. More >>

BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS

1) Starting pitching: Breslow won’t rest -- literally and figuratively -- until he gets a front-line starter or two.

Free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto remains the biggest prize available. Competition for his services will be heated. Lefty Jordan Montgomery, who stood out for the World Series-champion Rangers, is a pitcher the Sox have been keeping close tabs on. NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and righty Lucas Giolito, who pitched for three teams in a down 2023 season but has plenty of talent, are among the top free-agent pitchers.

The trade market also has its share of intriguing arms, including Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes, Tyler Glasnow, Logan Gilbert and Shane Bieber.

2) A second baseman: The Red Sox have lacked stability at second since that fateful April night in 2017 when Manny Machado spiked Dustin Pedroia’s left knee. Breslow isn’t going to find a player the caliber of Pedroia on the market, but he’d like to find a defense-first second baseman.

Breslow said a second baseman is more likely to come via trade than free agency.

3) Right-handed bat: Part of the motivation for trading Verdugo was to create some more left-right balance in the outfield and the lineup. Boston was heavy in left-handed hitting last season.

Don’t rule out a return for Adam Duvall, who can play center field and has power from the right side. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., a key player for the NL-champion D-backs, could be a fit. He is a free agent for the first time.

RULE 5 DRAFT

Technically, the Red Sox didn’t pick anyone in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. In reality, they did. Shortly after the Rule 5 Draft ended, the Sox acquired righty Justin Slaten from the Mets in exchange for Minor League lefty Ryan Ammons and cash considerations.

The Mets nabbed Slaten from the Rangers with the seventh overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft -- five slots ahead of Boston’s pick. Slaten was the player Breslow targeted most of all the players on the board. Slaten does carry a Rule 5 designation in Boston, meaning the Red Sox will have to keep him on the 26-man roster all season.

The Sox also lost two pitching prospects in lefty Shane Drohan (White Sox) and righty Ryan Fernandez (Cardinals). It was somewhat surprising that Drohan was left unprotected, given his early-season dominance (5-0, 1.32 ERA) at Double-A Portland. Drohan didn’t have the same success at Triple-A Worcester.

“As we made these decisions a few weeks ago, we recognized that we have a lot of guys with desirable performance and pitch characteristics,” Breslow said. “And we're not thrilled to lose those guys. We knew that was a risk when we went into this, but we obviously had to make decisions that we did.”

GM’S BOTTOM LINE

“I think we have a little bit better clarity in terms of who may be the right fits for us and what the timelines may look like. And the only thing that we can do is remain engaged, remain active and understand where the markets are going and let our interests be known,” Breslow said. “Players and agents are incentivized by a host of reasons to determine their own timelines. I think the most important thing that we can do as I've kind of maintained all along is identify the players that we think are really good fits and be aggressive in pursuing them.”