BOSTON – Right at the start of the Hot Stove season, new Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had his eye on starting pitching.
It took a while, but the Sox have finally addressed a significant addition to the rotation, agreeing to a two-year, $38.5 million contract with free agent right-hander Lucas Giolito on Friday, a source told Mark Von MLB.com with fine sand. The deal, which has not been confirmed by the club, includes an opt-out after 2024.
During a three-year stretch from 2019-21, Giolito was one of the best starters in the American League, as he went 29-21 with a 3.47 ERA over 72 starts and held opponents to a .207 average during that span.
Giolito has experienced a downturn over the last two seasons, but the Red Sox are confident he can reverse that trend with the team's new and improved pitching infrastructure under Breslow, pitching coach Andrew Bailey and pitching director Justin Willard.
The Red Sox had their sights set on a starter or two this offseason, and it will be interesting to see if they add anyone else in addition to Giolito.
Left-handers Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are the top two starters on the traditional free-agent market. There's also Shōta Imanaga, who had a successful career in Japan and was called up to the MLB team in November. Teams have a deadline of January 11 to sign the 30-year-old left-hander.
Giolito's 2023 season was topsy-turvy, to say the least. Things started well, with Giolito going 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA in 21 starts for the White Sox.
However, after joining the Angels, his season began to take a significant downturn as he posted a 6.89 ERA in six starts. The Guardians later claimed Giolito off waivers and he had a 7.04 ERA in six starts with Cleveland.
This stretch resulted in Giolito making the wrong history, as he became the first pitcher since 1899 to allow eight or more runs in a game for three different teams, according to OptaSTATS.
Prior to this season, Giolito had spent six straight seasons with the White Sox, who acquired him from the Nationals in December 2016 as part of the package in exchange for Adam Eaton. His best season came in 2019, when he went 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA in 176 2/3 innings while leading all of baseball in complete games (three) and shutouts (two) en route to a sixth-place finish the Cy Young Award ballot.
He finished the 2020 and 2021 seasons with an ERA of 3.48 and 3.53, respectively, securing some down-ballot Cy Young votes, and he also threw a no-hitter during the 2020 season.
At just 29 years old, Giolito should still have plenty of gas left in the tank, but it's up to him to prove he can get back to his dominant self. His biggest problem in 2023 was hard contact. He ranked in the 8th percentile in barrel rate and in the 32nd percentile in hard-hit rate, which are two of the main reasons he led the American League in home runs allowed (41).
In addition to Giolito, Boston's squad, which has struggled with numerous injuries in recent years, also includes fast-rising young player Brayan Bello and former top player Chris Sale.
Nick Pivetta was a swingman last season and could get a chance to get back into the rotation.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are still trying to figure out whether Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford are best used as starters or backups.