Lucas Giolito was highly sought after at the 2023 trade deadline as the Chicago White Sox looked to start a rebuild of sorts amidst another disappointing season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were among the teams linked to Giolito, but the White Sox traded him to the Los Angeles Angels for top prospects Ky Bush and Edgar Quero. Chicago also included Reynaldo López in the trade.
For the Angels, it was an aggressive move perceived by many as being a sign of good faith for Shohei Ohtani heading into free agency. However, the Angels wound up collapsing and placing Giolito, Matt Moore, López, Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone on waivers.
Giolito finished the 2023 season with the Cleveland Guardians but now is a free agent.
As the 29-year-old mulls over his future, Giolito expressed an interest in once again being teammates with Ohtani, via Arash Markazi of The Messenger:
“We’ll see,” Giolito said when asked about teaming up with Ohtani again. “That would be really cool.”
Giolito’s comments were made prior to Ohtani signing a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract.
The Dodgers addressed their starting rotation by trading for Tyler Glasnow and reaching an agreement with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but still figure to add more depth. L.A. again has been linked to Giolito as they search for more starting pitching.
Giolito finished with a combined 4.88 ERA this past season but is a rebound candidate after performing like an ace from 2019 to 2021. During that span he made 72 starts and struck out 30.7% of batters faced.
However, Giolito’s decline began during the 2022 season, and thus what type of contract he may receive is difficult to gauge.
Giolito attended Harvard-Westlake High School.
Lucas Giolito rumors
Along with the Dodgers, the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals have been among the teams mentioned as having reported interest in Giolito.
Signing with the Dodgers would represent a homecoming for the Burbank, California, native.
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