Former All-Star starting pitcher inks surprisingly lofty deal with Red Sox
The Red Sox are taking on a flier on Lucas Giolito. The sides are reportedly in agreement on a two-year, $38.5M guarantee that allows the CAA client to opt-out after the first season. Giolito will collect an $18M salary next year and will receive a $1M buyout if he exercises the opt-out. His 2025 salary is worth $19M.
If he doesn’t opt out next winter, a conditional option kicks in covering the 2026 campaign. Were Giolito to throw fewer than 140 innings in 2025, the Sox would have a $14M club option. If he reaches or tops 140 frames, he’d convert that provision to a $19M mutual option and guarantee a $1.5M buyout. The deal also contains $1M in performance bonuses in each of the next two seasons.
It’s a modified pillow contract for the 29-year-old. That reflects a dismal final few months of last season. Giolito looked on track for a nine-figure deal early in the summer. Over his first 21 starts with the White Sox, he carried a 3.79 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of the batters faced. Chicago’s fall out of contention made him one of the top starters available at the deadline.
A trade sending Giolito alongside reliever Reynaldo López to the Angels looked like a boost to his market value. Joining a fringe contender gave him an outside shot at a playoff berth. More meaningfully for his free agency, it took the qualifying offer (QO) off the table, as players who change teams midseason can’t be issued the QO.
That’s not how things played out. Giolito was one of the worst pitchers in MLB from the deadline onwards. He made only six starts for the Halos before they placed him on waivers, dumping the remainder of his salary after the team fell from contention to help limbo underneath the luxury tax line. Giolito was hit hard for both Los Angeles and the Guardians, who snagged him off the waiver wire at the end of August.
