Just in: following the departure of the Baltimore Orioles’ star pitcher to the Red Sox, the team has officially reached an agreement to sign a pitcher of the highest caliber from…..

Lucas Giolito joins the Red Sox, looking back on 2023, and who will break out in 2024.

Good Morning, Birdland!

There was an actual, real, semi-significant move in baseball yesterday. It wasn’t the Orioles that made it. Don’t be ridiculous. No, it was the Red Sox. They signed right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million deal that allows for an opt out after the first season. That sounds like the outcome for a guy that was largely receiving one-year “prove it” types of offers but held out for the one team that was willing to give him a little extra.

Giolito pitched well for the league’s other foot garment-themed squad, accumulating a 3.79 ERA over 121 innings for the White Sox in 2023. But he fell off hard after being dealt, first to the Angels and then the Guardians. Between those two stops he had a 6.96 ERA/6.87 FIP and served up a .918 OPS. It’s not what you want ahead of your first foray into free agency.

The Orioles seemed like a potential fit for Giolito back when he was on the trade market. Instead, they ended up with Jack Flaherty, who was comparably awful so who’s to say if they made out better or not.

It’s possible the O’s talked to Giolito again this offseason, although there were never rumors to suggest as much. The team remains in search of rotation reinforcements, and at times in his career Giolito has performed like a

front-half starter. But he’s far from a sure thing, and offering him $38.5 million to find out whether he’s still got it or not doesn’t fit with Elias’ idea of building out a roster. In this instance, you can understand them looking elsewhere.

Perhaps this is an indication that the big move we have all been waiting for is getting closer to fruition though. Teams and players have slightly woken up from their Christmas-induced slumbers. This week we have seen Mitch Garver join the Mariners, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kevin Kiermaier sign on with the Blue Jays, Chris Flexen head to the White Sox, and now Giolito to Boston.

None of these are blockbusters, but they do indicate that the market has settled to the point that players, agents, and teams are comfortable with the offers that have been made. The problem for the Orioles is that the overwhelming majority of their roster is set. They don’t really need to shop in the mid-tier for much beyond maybe another bullpen arm. Their big need remains a difference-making starter. Despite the Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing being settled more than a week ago, that market has continued to be slow to move. And so, our wait continues.