You can count on one hand the number of days until Spring Training game action begins. With all 30 teams workouts in full swing, a few free-agent stragglers have yet to find a home. Among them: Former White Sox ace Lucas Giolito, who is still looking for a new deal despite a productive 2025 season in Boston. Giolito’s market has been fairly quiet all offseason, and a recent report disputing previously reported interest from Atlanta casts further darkness on his market. The White Sox rotation feels set, but an opportunistic approach to the market could put a reunion with Giolito on the table.
Giolito, 31, spent six and a half seasons with the White Sox, including an all-star nod in 2019. Giolito established himself as a top-of-the-rotation starter for the White Sox from 2019-2021 before a slight hiccup in 2022. He’d gotten off to a strong start in 2023 before a midseason trade to the Angels led to his struggles down the stretch. Giolito landed a two-year deal with the Boston Red Sox prior to 2024, but missed the entire 2024 season with an elbow injury. He returned last season and looked strong, posting a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts.
Soreness in his elbow knocked Giolito out for the postseason and is potentially contributing to his quiet market, though Giolito insists that he’s healthy, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post indicated that Giolito’s offseason training was normal.
Lucas Giolito, the top free agent starter left, has had a normal offseason program and trained at Cressey Sports. After Giolito raised his arm angle 7 starts into last year, from 49 to 53, he had a 2.51 ERA over the final 18 starts with a .620 OPS allowed and 24.4% whiff rate.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 15, 2026
Giolito's market mystery could open door for White Sox reunion
It’s a bit odd that a 2.0 fWAR pitcher from 2025 has been unable to find a deal at this point in the offseason. The Atlanta Braves, who have already dealt with multiple starting pitcher injuries, were reportedly interested earlier in the offseason, but Braves beat reporter Gabriel Burns reported earlier this week that the interest was “overblown” and the Braves really haven’t been involved in Giolito’s market. The Detroit Tigers were tied to Giolito earlier in the offseason, but have since added Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander to fill out their rotation. Outside of those two teams, Giolito’s suitors are unclear.
The White Sox may not be active in the market for another starting pitcher, or any other player on a major league contract, but at some point, the price drop might be too good to pass up. The team ran into a similar situation with Munetaka Murakami, who they were able to land for just $34 million, significantly lower than his projected contract. Perhaps the White Sox could land Giolito on a one-year deal, giving him an opportunity to return to a city he knows well, prove he’s healthy, and hit free-agency again at 32. He’d provide the White Sox with another quality major league arm that could net a solid trade return at the deadline if he has a strong first half.
I’m not sure what the chances are that a deal actually happens. The White Sox seem confident in the group they have in camp and Giolito may not even have interest in returning to the White Sox, but the fit makes sense and the market could fall into the White Sox laps.
The White Sox have already reunited with one pitcher this offseason in Erick Fedde. We’ll see if another will soon be in the cards.