Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito has revealed why he remains a free agent. The 2019 All-Star entered the previous offseason as one of the top available starters in Major League Baseball. In fact, ESPN ranked him as the 10th-best starting pitcher in free agency. At the time, the outlet predicted that Giolito would land a two-year, $32 million contract with a new club.
Despite this, Giolito has been overlooked. Many experts around the league assumed teams were hesitant because of the pitcher’s recent injury history. Giolito notably missed the entire 2024 campaign due to elbow surgery. After recovering from the significant setback, he went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 1.29 WHIP a year ago with the Red Sox. Nevertheless, he was subsequently shut down by Boston ahead of the playoffs due to a different elbow concern.
Giolito has now broken his silence on the situation during a recent interview on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. The pitcher claimed that he is healthy and unsigned because he wants a suitable salary. “The last few months have been very strange, to where talks seem like they’re heating up. And then it’s like, Okay, never mind,” explained Giolito.
“I just want to play for close to what my value is. Everything is based on these models now, right? Everyone uses projection and models and things like that to kind of determine [value], and my agency does the same thing. It’s like, ‘Alright. Cool. Give me something that’s relatively close to that and let’s go and get it.’”
Boston Red Sox Unlikely to Re-Sign Lucas Giolito
GettyLucas Giolito put up solid stats with the Red Sox in 2025.
To keep in shape, Giolito went on to claim that he is working out five to seven days per week. He is also throwing live to be ready when he finally does receive an acceptable contract offer. The star pitcher asserted that he is maintaining a 75-pitch count during these sessions. Giolito admitted that he is willing to start the 2026 season in AAA or go straight to the mound with an MLB team.
While he remains a free agent for now, several teams have been linked with a potential move for the starter in recent days. This includes the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays. All of these clubs have one very specific thing in common: they are all dealing with early injuries to starting pitchers.
The Cubs may just be the frontrunners for Giolito at the moment. After all, the North Siders are currently without their top two starting pitchers, Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton. Boyd is likely only to miss around two weeks of action due to a bicep strain. Horton, however, will not pitch again this season after undergoing UCL surgery.
Boston’s Pitching has Been Subpar to Start 2026 Season
Although the Boston Red Sox are unlikely to target Giolito, their pitching staff has not fared well to start the 2026 season. Boston has, so far, allowed 4.58 runs per game (10th-worst in all of baseball). The team’s combined ERA of 4.19 is also well below league average.
As far as starting pitching goes in Beantown, newly acquired Ranger Suarez and veteran Brayan Bello have underperformed early in the campaign. Both pitchers have allowed eight runs in as many innings in two starts each. Nevertheless, the Red Sox will likely stick with their current rotation for the time being.
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