Red Sox pluck Lucas Giolito for rotation

The Red Sox had a terrible 2023 season. Perhaps still reeling from the big trades last winter that saw their middle infield decimated, the real story has been their lack of deep starters in that rotation.

Now they have made a step in the direction of addressing that issue by plucking right hander Lucas Giolito from the free agency marked.

The two-year deal agreed with Giolito has been confirmed by the club to be worth $38.5 million and has an opt-out after year one.

2023 was a year of ups and down for the Santa Monica, California native, who finished up the season with a 4.88 ERA over 184.1 innings with three teams.

Starting off with the White Sox, Giolito was traded at the deadline to the Angels. Struggling to find his footing in Anaheim, he then found himself on the move again to Cleveland where he had the ignominious fortune of becoming the first pitcher since 1899 to allow eight or more runs in a game for three different teams.

Starting off his career with the Nationals, Giolito has been a mainstay in the White Sox rotation for the past six seasons, while finishing sixth in the 2019 Cy Young race and leading baseball in complete games that season.

He is still young and healthy at 29 years old and those deep inning starts are what Boston will want to squeeze out of him, looking for a grinder who can chew up starts. Someone like that often gives up home runs, but if he can get some innings under his belt the Red Sox have the tools to back him up on the scoring side of the ledger.

And who knows? There could be a second wind left in Lucas Giolito yet.