One of the best free-agent pitchers available to the Baltimore Orioles was signed by the Boston Red Sox.
Lucas Giolito has agreed to a two-year, $38.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, as reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN. This offseason, Giolito was considered one of the Baltimore Orioles’ primary objectives. He stays in the American League East with the Red Sox rather than signing with the Orioles.
This is one of those instances where Baltimore must exercise caution. Even though it seems like they are crushing on Dylan Cease, they can’t pass up other players in the hopes that the Chicago White Sox will trade for him. The simplest way for teams to miss out on free agents in the off-season is through that.
Giolito, 29, spent the majority of his playing career with the White Sox. He stayed with the franchise until the Los Angeles Angels acquired him in the middle of the 2023 campaign. Giolito inked a contract with the Cleveland Guardians to play the rest of the season after the Angels dismissed him.
He had appalling results in Cleveland and Los Angeles. With the Angels, his ERA was 6.89, while with the Guardians, it was 7.04. Even though those numbers were far lower than his historical norms, teams may have been concerned going into the offseason.
Boston doesn’t seem to think it’s crazy to think he can go back to what he did in Chicago. He was a reliable arm who could put up 160+ innings and maintain an ERA of 3-4.5 when he was there.
The Orioles need to keep searching for a starting pitcher. They had an obvious need for it in 2023, and it needs to be taken care of before the 2024 season.