Cubs, Padres In Lucas Giolito

Proper-hander Lucas Giolito stays a free agent a number of weeks into the 2026 season. A report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic in the present day says the Cubs and Padres are displaying curiosity within the the righty.

Giolito, 31, has been essentially the most notable unsigned free agent for some time now. Max Scherzer and Zack Littell signed in mid-March, leaving Giolito because the final standing member of the MLBTR’s record of the Prime 50 Free Brokers from the start of the offseason.

He not too long ago spoke about his expertise with Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. He stated he had some talks with a number of groups however in the end didn’t make a lot progress, seemingly attributable to disagreements about his wage. “I simply need to play for near what my worth is,” Giolito informed Bradford. “The whole lot relies on these fashions now. Everybody makes use of projection and fashions. My company (CAA) does the identical factor. If you have a look at fashions and projections (for worth), it’s like ‘alright cool, give me one thing that’s comparatively near that.’ Let’s go and get it. I’m able to go.”

Giolito is coming off season by way of surface-level numbers. He tossed 145 innings for the Purple Sox with a 3.41 earned run common. If groups have skepticism about that, it may very well be as a result of his .273 batting common on balls in play and 76.7% strand fee have been each to the fortunate aspect. His 19.7% strikeout fee and 9.1% stroll fee have been really subpar. ERA estimators like his 4.17 FIP and 4.65 SIERA felt his ERA was fortunate by a few full run.

That continued a little bit of a downward development for him. He was a borderline ace from 2019 to 2021 however noticed diminished outcomes after that. His ERA was just below 5.00 in 2022 and 2023. He then missed 2024 whereas recovering from surgical procedure on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. It’s not recognized what sort of wage Giolito would think about honest but it surely appears he hasn’t obtained a suggestion he would think about to be acceptable. He signed a two-year, $38.5MM cope with the Purple Sox forward of 2024, previous to that surgical procedure.

In his latest feedback, the righty added that he has been throwing about 75 pitches on his personal with a view to keep near sport prepared. That’s an identical state of affairs to Patrick Corbin. The Jays signed Corbin in response to some accidents. Corbin had been getting himself stretched out and solely wanted one minor league begin earlier than becoming a member of the massive league membership, although he missed spring coaching.

For the Cubs and Padres, it’s comprehensible that they might look to what’s accessible, given their latest accidents. The Chicago rotation suffered one massive blow not too long ago, as Cade Horton‘s season has been ended by UCL surgical procedure. In addition they positioned Matthew Boyd on the injured record with a way more minor subject, a strained biceps. They’re nonetheless ready for Justin Steele, who’s recovering from final yr’s UCL surgical procedure.

They presently have a rotation group consisting of Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea. Assad has choices and began the season within the minors whereas Rea began within the bullpen. Each obtained moved up the depth chart when Horton and Boyd obtained harm. If Giolito have been added into the combination, Assad might once more be optioned and/or Rea might get nudged again to a aid function. Boyd getting wholesome pretty rapidly might additionally impression the choice making.

On the monetary aspect of issues, each RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts have the Cubs narrowly above the aggressive stability tax. The report from The Athletic says the Cubs are planning to pay the tax this yr, so that they shouldn’t have to fret about nudging their quantity up a bit.

For the Padres, their rotation depth has been an ongoing subject for years and 2026 is not any exception. Over the weekend, Nick Pivetta exited a begin attributable to elbow tightness. Joe Musgrove remains to be not again from his 2024 Tommy John surgical procedure. Griffin Canning remains to be working his method again from final yr’s Achilles damage. Matt Waldron required a minor process throughout spring coaching and commenced the season on the injured record.

Except Pivetta’s subject proves to be minor, the Friars have a rotation mixture of Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez. Each Waldron and Canning have begun rehab assignments and may very well be activated quickly however that received’t essentially clear up all the pieces since Buehler and Márquez have every posted lackluster outcomes up to now. JP Sears is on the 40-man roster however it might be good to maintain him in Triple-A as depth. Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are within the system on minor league offers however Gonzales has a 7.90 ERA via three Triple-A begins whereas McKenzie has a 13.50 ERA at that stage up to now this yr.

Including Giolito might make sense from a baseball perspective however the report from The Athletic notes that the continuing sale course of is perhaps a snag. The Seidler household is actively making an attempt to promote the franchise. Even when they get an settlement pretty quickly, it might nonetheless should be authorized by the league. The present house owners could also be hesitant so as to add more cash to the books whereas that course of is ongoing.

It’s additionally doable that different golf equipment might leap into the combination. The Astros have misplaced three rotation members to the IL in latest days and will really feel compelled so as to add one other arm. The Orioles simply misplaced Zach Eflin to UCL surgical procedure. The Reds have Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo on the IL for the time being. Different accidents are positive to pop up as nicely.

Picture courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Pictures