Red Sox new rotation solid with Porcello, Masterson, Miley in mix

Red Sox general manger Ben Cherington’s Plan B looks mighty good right now. So long as you’re a fan of depth.

The Sox had to act quickly to rebuild their pitching rotation after Jon Lester signed with the Cubs early Wednesday, and act quickly they did. A little over 24 hours after the Sox lost out on Lester, they had three new legit starting pitchers in the fold with Justin Masterson, Rick Porcello and Wade Miley sliding into a rotation with holdovers Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly.

WEEI.com reported Thursday that the Sox had an agreement with Masterson for one-year, $9.5 million. The 29-year-old Masterson has shown flashes of brilliance over the years, particularly early in the 2013 season with Cleveland when he got off to a 7-2 start with a 2.83 ERA. Masterson went 7-9 and had a 5.88 ERA last season, splitting time between Cleveland and St. Louis.

It is Porcello who is the most promising pitcher added to the Sox rotation, however. Boston added the righty, who is coming off the best season of his young career with a 15-13 mark and 3.43 ERA in 2014, by trading away Yoenis Cespedes to Detroit. Pitcher Alex Wilson and minor league hurler Gabe Speier were also sent to the Tigers as part of the Porcello deal.