Lucas Giolito apparently could have told everyone all along how the Boston Red Sox would handle his contract situation.
The starting pitcher declined the player side of his $19 million mutual for 2026 after a bounce-back campaign in Boston. Following that move, the Red Sox decided not to issue Giolito a one-year, $22 million qualifying offer.
Some uncertainty persisted over whether the Red Sox would extend the qualifying offer, which would have given them a chance to receive a compensatory draft pick if Giolito rejected it and signed with another team. Giolito, however, said on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast that he wasn’t surprised by Boston’s choice.
“I wasn’t, like, banking on it,” Giolito said. “I was pretty sure I wasn’t gonna get it.”
The decision seemed like a given to Giolito after he missed the playoffs with an elbow injury.
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“That’s how it works,” Giolito bluntly said. “You end the year hurt, you’re not in a good spot to command a qualifying offer or whatever. So, yeah. Moving on.”
The 31-year-old had “no idea” how Boston would have proceeded if he ended the campaign healthy, but he prepared to hit the open market. Giolito added that he’s recovered from the fluke injury.
“I thought it was obvious,” Giolito said of Boston forgoing a qualifying offer. “I went into this offseason knowing full well I’d be a free agent. You end the year hurt, it puts a bad taste in the team’s mouth. It is what it is.
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“The fortunate side of that, it was the most benign, weird, freak injury that went away after a few days. So now I’m great. I’m having a fully healthy, amazing offseason. That kind of stuff happens. That’s just how it goes. I’m used to bad-luck stuff happening to me in my career, so I’m not surprised. at all.”
Despite seeing free agency as inevitable, Giolito said he’d love to return to Boston.
