Adding to Giolito’s frustration was the fact that after he was diagnosed and started some rehabilitation work, “within three days my elbow felt 100 percent fine again,” right-hander Rob Bradford of WEEI.com shared on the latest edition of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (partial transcript here). With no UCL damage discovered and the inflammation subsiding, Giolito planned to quickly initiate a throwing program with the intention of returning later in the playoffs, except Boston’s run was cut short early.
As Giolito’s offseason and free agency begin, he said it is now “completely healthy”, even though he understands the complications resulting from his late bending problem. He said that he “happy to prove that I am completely healthy in every way possible‘ to any skeptical front offices, and that the injury is completely behind him.
“There is no injury, or whatever injury there was is gone. It was a weird, bizarre thing that showed up at the worst possible time, not just for the Red Sox, but for myself and in general.Giolito said.Just the worst possible time. It makes my freedom of choice more difficult. It kept me from pitching in the playoffs, where I had been part of the rotation pretty much all year. It was just very, very hard to swallow. I still don’t like to think about it.”
Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5 million deal with the Red Sox during the 2023-24 offseason, which broke down into an $18 million salary for 2024 and then a player option for a $19 million salary in 2025. Giolito’s internal brace procedure made it easy for him to exercise that $19 million option and remain in his Sox contract, and by staying in the deal added he also grants a club option for 2026 worth at least $14 million. Because Giolito subsequently pitched at least 140 innings in 2025, the club option was converted to a $19 million mutual option with a $1.5 million buyout, giving Giolito the right to retest free agency if he declined his end of the mutual option.
That’s exactly what happened earlier this week, and Giolito is back on the open market. There is no qualifying offer attached to his services as the Sox did not make him the one-year offer of $22.025 million. Giolito told Bradford he didn’t expect the QO because of his injury: “Your end of the year hurts, it leaves a bad taste in the team’s mouth. It is what it is. The happy side is that it was a benign, weird, bizarre injury that went away after a few days. So now I think: great. I’m having a completely healthy, great offseason.”
Despite the sour ending, Giolito still viewed his 2025 campaign as “really very positiveGiven his own success and Boston’s success in returning to the playoffs, he also hopes for an encore performance at Fenway Park in 2026 and beyond.
“I made it clear to everyone. I would love to come back here and continue playing for the Red Sox. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had during a season with a team in the major leaguesGiolito said.I felt like the way it ended left such a bad taste in my mouth, and the rest of the team, especially me, wasn’t able to pitch in that playoff series. It was really bad. I was like, I really hope I can come back, and things go better for us next time.”
MLBTR ranked Giolito 27th on our list of the top 50 free agents this offseason, projecting the right-hander to land a two-year, $32 million contract. There was some flexibility within that projection, as some teams may feel comfortable enough in Giolito’s health to add a club/vest option for a third year, or perhaps even just a fully guaranteed third year.
This mid-range price tag should put Giolito on the radar of many clubs, and a return to Boston certainly seems plausible as the Sox still need pitching. The expectation is that the Red Sox will pursue a front-line arm to work with Garrett hook on top of the rotation, but adding this hypothetical ace and Giolito would only deepen the rotation and make the Sox better equipped for an extended postseason run.
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