{"id":553991,"date":"2026-01-30T13:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T13:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/553991\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T13:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T13:09:12","slug":"lucas-giolito-could-haunt-red-sox-by-signing-with-orioles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/553991\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Giolito Could Haunt Red Sox By Signing With Orioles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2026\/01\/market-for-ex-red-sox-pitcher-heats-up-difference-maker-in-demand\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lucas Giolito<\/a> could have <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2025\/10\/predicting-red-sox-lucas-giolito-qualifying-offer-free-agency-decision\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">several opportunities<\/a> to face his former club in 2026 based on the latest intel from the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/29\/sports\/rotation-ready-arms-mysteriously-still-on-mlbs-free-agent-market\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Post\u2019s Jon Heyman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/galleza01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zac Gallen, <\/a>who like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/valdefr01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">(Framber) Valdez<\/a> is good enough to have the draft-pick attachment via a qualifying offer, plus capable veterans Lucas Giolito, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bassich01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chris Bassitt<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/martini01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nick Martinez<\/a>, 40-something legends<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/verlaju01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Justin Verlander<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scherma01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Max Scherzer<\/a> and many more should be readying for camps,\u201d Heyman notes while running down the free-agent pitchers still on the market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Orioles are linked to the best of the group, including Valdez, plus Gallen and Giolito, and seem destined to land one,\u201d Heyman reports. \u201cBut the O\u2019s are just one of a long roster of teams seeking starters. The Tigers, Diamondbacks, Padres and Braves are among the most active while the Yankees, Cubs, Giants, Angels, Jays, Rays, A\u2019s, White Sox, Phillies and Marlins also seem to be looking around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of the clubs possibly challenging the Orioles for Giolito, two received special attention from Heyman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Braves, who work in quiet, are thought to be interested in Giolito or Bassitt,\u201d Heyman writes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Tigers have considered Giolito, who had a nice year in Boston,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/29\/sports\/framber-valdez-the-latest-mlb-star-to-await-free-agency-answer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heyman adds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The right-hander pitched 145 innings in 2025, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2025\/09\/lucas-giolito-reaches-milestone-red-sox-contract-status-changes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">turned his 2026 contract into a mutual option<\/a>. But Giolito, who went <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giolilu01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">10-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts,<\/a> ran out of gas at the end of the season and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2025\/09\/lucas-giolito-injury-update-red-sox-starter-ruled-out-mlb-playoffs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">missed the playoffs with an injury to his right elbow.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Giolito\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2025\/11\/lucas-giolito-declines-mutual-option.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">declined the player side of his mutual option<\/a>\u00a0after the season. Boston and the starting pitcher both would have needed to agree to exercise the $19 million option for 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the Red Sox opted\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2025\/11\/red-sox-decline-to-give-qualifying-offer-to-key-free-agent\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">not to extend<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2025\/10\/predicting-red-sox-lucas-giolito-qualifying-offer-free-agency-decision\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one-year qualifying offer<\/a>\u00a0to Giolito in November.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Giolito signed with the Red Sox ahead of the 2024 season but ended up missing the year while recovering from elbow surgery.<\/p>\n<p>Before joining Boston, Giolito previously pitched for the Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Guardians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>He was an All-Star in Chicago and finished in the top 11 for Cy Young Award voting three times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito could have several opportunities to face his former club in 2026 based&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":553992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[45285,1266,56840,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-553991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-lucas-giolito","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-rumors","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115984214533796628","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}