Red Sox's $38.5M Veteran Predicted To Leave Boston In Favor Of Angels

Where will the market lead Lucas Giolito?

Feb 28, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the Los Angeles Angels logo on a hat in the dugout during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"That's business, baby."

Boston Red Sox free-agent starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said that to Rob Bradford on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast last week, and he was referring to how his current/soon-to-be former team had seemingly left him out in the cold.

Giolito also said the starting pitching market has essentially been "crickets" for him, but a talented former All-Star like him is bound to eventually find a deal, though he might struggle to obtain the two years, $38.5 million he got from the Red Sox at the end of 2023.

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Where will Giolito wind up?

One baseball writer sees Giolito going back to Southern California, where he hails from, and pitching for a team that hasn't had a good rotation in so long it's almost hard to pinpoint.

On Monday, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter projected Giolito to the Angels to pitch near the top of the rotation for the last-place team in this season's Ameriaca League West.

"The Angels made a splash with the three-year, $63.7 million deal they gave Yusei Kikuchi last offseason, and they look like a prime candidate for a similar mid-level signing of someone like Lucas Giolito," wrote Reuter.

Giolito somewhat famously earned his free agency by hitting 140 innings pitched this year and converting a $14 million club option into a $19 million mutual option that the Red Sox declined. Giolito might well have declined his end, too, but it never got that far.

In 26 starts, Giolito went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA, and the Red Sox went 18-8 when he pitched. That made him one of the more surprisingly valuable contributors on the roster, even if he only managed 2.1 bWAR.

But when Giolito's sudden elbow flare-up caused the Red Sox to have to turn to a rookie in a winner-take-all playoff game, it seemed to be only a matter of time before Boston closed the door on a reunion.

Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo have since joined the Boston rotation, but it will be intriguing to watch from afar and see if Giolito can repeat his success in 2026.

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