The Boston Red Sox need pitching help — that much is obvious. While Red Sox fans would love to bring back star pitcher Jon Lester this offseason, that might not be super realistic. Lucky for the Sox, Lester isn’t the only stud pitcher hitting free agency.

James Shields’ name has already been thrown about as a Red Sox target, with Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star going as far as to say the Sox are “early favorites” to sign the right-handed pitcher. I like the sound of that.

Executives around the league expect Shields to get five years from anywhere between $80 million to $110 million total. Now $80 million seems extremely low, but if that’s a realistic number the Sox can sign Sheilds to, then that will be the steal of the century. Even five years, $110 million is a good price for a pitcher who was looking for Zack Greinke money at the beginning of the year. Five years may seem long since Shields turns 33 years old in 2015, but he has a long history of being extremely durable so paying him until he’s 38 isn’t the worst thing the Red Sox could do.

But worrying about what Shields might be at 38 is silly. Even worrying about him at 36 isn’t important. What’s important is what Shields would bring to this young Red Sox team for the next two to three years. 

With both the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals, Shields has shown that he is a strong locker room presence and is extremely influential on younger pitchers. With plenty of young pitchers already in the rotation (Brandon Workman and Rubby De La Rosa) and on the horizon (like Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, Eduardo Rodriguez), Shields’ ability to help and lead young pitchers could be exactly what the Red Sox’s pitching needs.

All of this leadership is exciting, but let’s not forget the fact that Shields is also a very solid pitcher. Since 2011, Shields has a 124 ERA+, has averaged 233 innings per season and has at least 33 starts in each of those seasons. Shields would step right on in as the top of the rotation pitcher and help what was a very weak pitching rotation towards the end of the season.

Red Sox fans everywhere should be hoping these rumors are true, because signing Shields would be a huge boost to a team that is filled with young talent but in need of veteran leadership. I’d fully expect the Sox to go all out trying to get Shields to Boston and into a nice pair of red socks.

Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google