The Boston Red Sox missed out on several high profile free agents this winter, including Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. However the club addressed their need for a proven starting pitcher this week, inking RHP Lucas Giolito to a 2 year deal.
The contract is valued at $38.5M, with innings-based performance bonuses which could see the deal max out at $40.5M. It also includes an opt-out clause after the first season as well.
Giolito logged a career high 184.1IP last season, splitting time between the White Sox, Angels, and Guardians. For the year, the 29 year old posted an 8-15 record with a 4.88 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. His 204 strikeouts were good for 13th most in the majors, but his 41 homers allowed led the American League, making for a highly volatile 2023 campaign.
The Santa Monica, CA native joins a rotation that includes Chris Sale, Brayan Bello and some combination of Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock. Boston, who finished last year with a 78-84 record, are in their first offseason since replacing former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom with Craig Breslow.
Bloom, who had come under scrutiny from media and the fanbase alike for his propensity to pinch pennies despite being one of the most iconic franchises in all of baseball, had several less than thrilling offseasons, ultimately leading to his demise in Beantown. However up until this point, Breslow & Co. haven’t been much busier, inking only right hander Cooper Criswell to a $1M contract thus far.
With both Japanese stars off the market, it will be interesting to see what strategy Breslow now pivots to, as the Red Sox roster is one that still has several holes in it offensively and pitching wise. The Sox have been recently linked to Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga, LHP James Paxton, Cuban righty Yariel Rodriguez, RHP Marcus Stroman, LHP Blake Snell, and OF Teoscar Hernandez.
Having a strong offseason will be paramount for management to show the fanbase that they’re set to turn over a new leaf. While the Red Sox faithful aren’t expecting the club to spend over $1.1B in free agency like the Dodgers, at minimum, fans want to see tangible change come to a roster that’s made the playoffs only once in the last 5 seasons.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Ian D’Andrea. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.