Lucas Giolito heads to arbitration over a minuscule amount of money

A mere $200,000 is sending the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Lucas Giolito to an arbitration hearing to figure out his 2022 salary. The two sides could not reach an agreement prior to the March 22 arbitration deadline according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Giolito filed for $7.5 million while the team countered $7.3 million. An arbitrator may now have to determine Giolito’s salary because the Sox didn’t bump up their offer to avoid what now looks like a public relations blunder.

This seems rather petty on the White Sox part based on what the right-hander has meant to the team since joining the club in 2017.

However, the team can still save some face in this situation as the two sides can reach a deal prior to the hearing which will take place during the season as a result of the lockout putting a stop to any player business dealings on the Major League level.

The White Sox should be doing what they can to keep Lucas Giolito happy.

According to Spotrac, Giolito made $4.15 million last year and is in his second year of arbitration eligibility. Giolito will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

He had a difficult 2018 season when he led the American League in walks (90) and the Majors in earned runs (118) but turned that around the following year going 14-9 and posting a career-low ERA of 3.41 while making his first All-Star appearance.

Last season, Giolito recorded 201 strikeouts over a career-high 178.2 innings. His ability to get hitters out on strikes has been impressive over the last three seasons with a strikeout to walk ratio of 4.0, 3.46, and 3.87 respectively.

Following the end of last season, Giolito talked about signing an extension with the White Sox and the prospects of inking a long-term deal.

“For me, I’m always interested in a long-term contract, something where, essentially: Make me a Sox player for life.”

Giolito continued:

“But the business of baseball is the business of baseball. A lot of that’s out of my hands, so for the time being, I’m just going to focus on what I focus on, which is getting better, especially in the offseason now.”

Despite not coming to a deal with Giolito, the White Sox did manage to avoid heading to arbitration with Reynaldo Lopez and Adam Engel. Lopez agreed to a deal for $2.625 million with Engel doing the same for $2 million.