MLB FA Lucas Giolito Reportedly Generating Interest from 2 Teams amid Early-Season Injuries

The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres are reportedly "eyeing" free agent right-handed starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, per The Athletic's Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma.

The Cubs and Padres have both been dealt significant blows to their starting rotations. Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton will undergo season-ending surgery to repair the UCL in his right elbow. The Padres just placed starting pitcher Nick Pivetta on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation.

Giolito has played nine MLB seasons dating back to 2016. He's spent the bulk of his career with the Chicago White Sox (2017-2023) and gone 71-66 lifetime with a 4.30 ERA (1.26 WHIP) and 9.3 K/9 rate.

In 2024, Giolito underwent surgery to have his right UCL repaired with an internal brace. He missed the entire season.

However, Giolito responded well in 2025, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA (1.29 WHIP) in 26 starts (145 innings). His 7.5 K/9 rate was down from his usual rate, but he really fared well over his final 11 starts (2.70 ERA), providing hope for a brighter future.

Giolito declined his $19 million mutual option and become a free agent. However. the offseason came and went without a contract. He spoke about it on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast (h/t The Athletic).

"The last few months have been very strange," Giolito said. "Talks seem like they're heating up, and then it's like, 'Oh, OK, never mind.' I just want to play for close to what my value is.

"Everything is based on these models now, right? Everyone uses projection and models and things like that to kind of determine. My agency (Creative Artists Agency) does the same thing. So it's like, 'All right, cool, give me something that's relatively close to that, and let's go and get it.'"

It appears there's interest in Giolito from at least two teams, though, so it's certainly possible something can get done soon enough.