The Red Sox have found some starting pitching help. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Boston has agreed to a two-year, $38.5 million contract with right-hander Lucas Giolito.
Breaking down the Red Sox' signing of Lucas Giolito
Giolito, 29, pitched for three teams last season -- the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Guardians. After a down 2022 season, he appeared to be in the midst of a bit of a bounce-back season with the White Sox, posting a 3.79 ERA through 21 starts there.
However, Giolito struggled after a July trade to the Angels. He went 1-5 with a 6.89 ERA in six starts there, got waived, and then went 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA in six starts after getting claimed by the Guardians. He ended up with a season-long ERA of 4.88, nearly matching his 4.90 ERA in 2022. He also gave up 41 home runs for the season, second-most in MLB.
That rough second half certainly affected Giolito's free agency value, which helps explain the short-term deal.
The Red Sox will be hoping Giolito gets back to the form he showed from 2019-21, when he finished 11th or better in Cy Young voting three straight years and showed signs of living up to his status as a first-round pick and top prospect.
Giolito has been durable throughout his career. Taking out the shortened 2020 COVID season, he has made at least 29 starts and pitched at least 160 innings every year since 2018.
As Passan notes in his tweet reporting the signing, the question now is whether Giolito is the start of a string of signings for the Red Sox, or if he winds up being the biggest fish they land this offseason.