As Red Sox starter says ‘I don’t want to be traded,’ contract clause may keep him in Boston for 2026

BOSTON — The last time Lucas Giolito felt this good about the way he was throwing the ball was the first half of the 2023 season, when he logged a 3.45 ERA in 19 starts for the White Sox. Two years later, he’s hoping the second half of 2025 doesn’t turn out like that one.

Two years ago, Giolito switched teams twice in the season’s final months, first when Chicago traded him to the Angels on July 26, then after six starts in Anaheim, when he was claimed by Cleveland on August 31. Moving around took its toll after seven years (and 162 starts) with the White Sox. A brutal second half — during which Giolito went through a divorce — included a 6.89 ERA with the Angels and a 7.04 mark with Cleveland.

“It was crazy,“ Giolito said. ”I had been in Chicago for so long that I didn’t realize the impact it would have on me getting traded, being in a new place and having to quickly try and develop new relationships and all that kind of stuff. It wasn’t that difficult, but my performance suffered, for sure. I was going through a lot during that period, so it was definitely a challenge, and I’ve learned a lot from it.

“My position on that now is this: Hopefully we can start to put more performances like we did (Monday) and win some series, win some games and get back into the race, because I have no desire to go through that again. I don’t want to be traded. I really love it here. I want to help this team win games to the end. I’m really pulling for us here.”

Giolito, after his 2023 tailspin, didn’t find a robust market in his first foray into free agency that fall. He signed a complicated contract with the Red Sox that guaranteed $38.5 million and included an opt-out after 2024. In Giolito’s perfect world, he would have collected $19 million last season, then pitched well enough to opt out in search of a bigger, longer deal in a second free-agent go-around. A preseason elbow injury that required surgery put that dream to bed and caused Giolito to reassess things. No longer did chasing a contract matter. Giolito’s goal was to get healthy and finally contribute to the Red Sox rotation.

“I signed a two-year deal,” he said. “It gives me financial security. For me, it’s less so about trying to platform myself like, ‘I want the big deal and I want all these things.’ If you have these big lofty goals and expectations, it can add more pressure.”

Giolito’s Red Sox debut, after a lost 2024, was further delayed when he suffered a left hamstring strain early in spring training. He didn’t pitch in the big leagues until April 30, and in the early goings, was consistently inconsistent. He posted a 6.42 ERA and allowed 44 hits (including 6 homers) in his first 33 ⅔ innings across seven outings.

Giolito, like teammate Walker Buehler now, wondered if he still had it. Blow-up outings, like on June 4 when he allowed seven runs and eight hits in just 1 ⅔ frames against the Angels, made him question what would come next.

“I think you’d be lying to yourself if you don’t allow certain thoughts like that to creep in,” he said. “It’s a very tough game we play and when you’re struggling, it can get negative. You can start to think, ‘Oh, man, am I going to get kicked out of the rotation? DFA’d? Where’s my place in baseball?’

“The best way to go about it is, instead of letting those thoughts take over and getting into a negative place, you can recognize them and be like, ‘This is where I’m at. What can I do to improve? What kind of work? What adjustments need to be made? And what kind of work do I need to put in so that I can improve and turn it around?’”

Giolito and Boston’s pitching coaches got to work, looking at biomechanical data and tweaking both his mechanics and pitch mix in an effort to turn things around. So far, the result have been quite reassuring for both the Red Sox and Giolito.

In his final four starts of June, the veteran allowed just two earned runs in 25 innings (0.72 ERA) while striking out 24 batters. After a months-long search to find a consistent No. 2 starter behind Garrett Crochet, the Red Sox feel like they have one.

“Garrett, he’s been incredible, but you don’t want him to shoulder the entire load,” Giolito said. “We’re a starting group of five starting pitchers. We’re a team within the team. We want to do our best to help each other out, help the bullpen out, and help the team out overall. It’s very important we all do our part.”

Unquestionably, Giolito’s time in Boston has looked much different than he thought it would when he agreed to terms shortly before New Year’s Eve in 2023. And assuming he gets his wish and isn’t traded — a possibility despite chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s repeated claims about wanting to buy – Giolito’s stay in Boston could extend into next season. The righty’s deal includes a conditional option that includes a $14 million club option (or $1.5 million buyout) for next year if Giolito throws fewer than 140 innings in 2025. If he eclipses that mark, it becomes a $19 million mutual option that will be a lock to be bought out.

There’s a chance that benchmark comes into play with Giolito currently at 58 ⅔ innings. To reach that 140-inning mark with 74 games remaining, Giolito would need to make every scheduled start and average nearly six innings per outing.

If Giolito keeps pitching well, that might be in play. Regardless, it’s not on the forefront of his mind at this juncture.

“I’m not too concerned as far as hitting ‘X’ amount of innings,” he said. “Either it’s gonna happen or it’s not. I think that if I keep going and I stay on this consistent path that I’ve been on, then throwing innings isn’t going to be an issue.

“I have the stuff to work deep into games consistently and so I’ll let the chips fall at the end of the day. For me, the mindset is what’s in the present: stay on track with my work and my routine and when I get the ball, I want to give the Red Sox a chance to win each time out. That’s really it.”