MLB Network name drops Yankees alongside former rival pitcher in free agency

It would seem that the New York Yankees are in scramble mode after missing out on Edward Cabrera. One insider has given us a bleak perspective, believing that the club will rely on minor league free agents and non-roster invitees to fill out the rotation if need be.

Others see them aiming higher, but not by much. Jon Morosi speculates that former Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito could be of interest to the Yankees, and pitchers of his ilk are where the club reportedly has its sights set in free agency.

Once a promising young arm with the Chicago White Sox, the Yankees got to know Giolito well as he pitched for the Boston Red Sox last season. Boston has likely moved on from the Giolito experience after two years (he was there but didn't pitch in 2024), declining their portion of his mutual option and deciding not to give him the qualifying offer.

The big righty tossed 145 innings and posted a 3.41 ERA for Boston before an elbow injury forced him to miss the playoffs. That might look good on the surface, but a deeper dive shows why the Red Sox seemingly have no interest in bringing him back and why the Yankees would be wise to avoid him as well.

Jon Morosi links the Yankees to former Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito, but they'd be wise to avoid him

From 2019-2021, Giolito looked like a stalwart starter, posting mid-3.00s ERAs. He was a better-than-average strikeout artist and did a decent job limiting walks, though he could occasionally be a bit homer-prone.

However, the wheels fell off in 2022 as Giolito's strikeouts dropped and he saw his ERA balloon to 4.90. 2023 was more of the same as the former first-round pick recorded a 4.88 ERA while bouncing between the White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and finally Cleveland Guardians, struggling worse at each stop. You know it's bad when even Cleveland can't fix an arm.

Giolito missed 2024 due to a torn UCL, and while it might look like he returned to peak form in 2025, the reality is much different.

His 7.51 K/9 was his lowest mark since 2018, which was his first full season in the bigs. Every single one of his underlying metrics was below average, with highlights being a 90.3 miles per hour average exit velocity (22nd percentile), a 26.7% chase rate (30th percentile), a 22.9% whiff rate (28th percentile, and a 9.1% walk rate (30th percentile).

The result was batters often hitting the ball hard off the 2019 All-Star. His .265 xBA was just a 16th percentile mark, and his 5.06 xERA is much more in line with the results he posted in 2022 and 2023.

Throw in a 1.45 career HR/9, and it's easy to see Giolito getting lit up like a Christmas tree in Yankee Stadium. If this is the tier of free-agent starter they're looking at, and frankly, even the top-tier options like Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, and Zac Gallen have questions, then it's pretty clear that a trade is their best option to shore up the rotation.

That will be no easy feat, either. Freddy Peralta is their top target, and the competition is fierce. MacKenzie Gore is another possible place they can turn, but controllable starters like him have gone for sky-high prices.

The Yankees are stuck between a rock and a hard place in their quest for rotation help, but one thing should be clear: and that's that Lucas Giolito isn't the answer.