The White Sox and right-hander Lucas Giolito have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $10.4MM deal, per Robert Murray of FanSided.
Giolito, 28, was a 16th overall pick of the Nationals and highly-touted prospect in his time there. He struggled a bit in his 2016 major league debut, though he was only in his age-21 season. Nonetheless, the Nats flipped him to Chicago as part of the Adam Eaton trade.
He continued to struggle to establish himself at the big league level over the next couple of seasons but broke out in 2019. He made 29 starts that season and posted a 3.41 ERA. He struck out 32.3% of batters faced while walking 8.1% of them. His 5.2 wins above replacement that year, per FanGraphs, placed him in the top 10 of all pitchers. He would go on to post similar results in 2020 and 2021 as the Sox qualified for consecutive trips to the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
2022 was a down season, however, as Giolito’s strikeout rate fell to 25.4%. That was still above league average but a big drop from his previous career work. That pushed his ERA up to 4.90 for the season. That coincided with a disappointing year for the club as well, with both Giolito and the Sox looking to bounce back here in 2023. It will be his final season before he’s slated to reach free agency.
Based on his strong work earlier in his career, Giolito pushed his salary to $4.15MM in 2021, his first time qualifying for arbitration. He pushed that up to $7.45MM last year and now gets to $10.4MM, just shy of the $10.8MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
WSox counting on him, Lynn and Clevenger pitching a whole lot better (and being durable) in their contract year to have a shot at a wildcard.
Personally I see 2022 all over again. Maybe 85 wins 77 losses
85 wins, and that’s if at least half of the ‘hopes’ and ‘what if’ pile pan out.
Best case scenario – 98 Wins, AL Central Champs
Starting pitching is excellent 1-5, bullpen is excellent and no major injuries
Worst case scenario – 72 Wins, get off to a bad start in April and May, injuries, and a big sell off at the trade deadline that includes Giolito, Robert and potentially Vaughn.
Sox could win the central, Benintendi slots in nicely in the lineup, and Sheets could make a big leap forward this season.
They have a fairly well rounded club, good offense, good pitching, good bullpen, should be a little better defensively, especially if they start Sheets at first and push Vaughn back to RF. Sheets could be a top flight defensive first baseman.
Losing Hendriks was a blow, but I like Avila and Santos, and getting Crochet back will be a boost.
All in all the Sox have a pretty good team, they’ll need Giolito and Lynn to find their ’21 form, but they could be there in October.
Sheets won’t be starting. Colas will be up in right field and Vaughn will be at 1B. Vaughn has no business playing right field.
You’re probably right, that is the consensus opinion, but Sheets is a first baseman, Vaughn is a RF.
Vaughn is NOT a RF. There is no evidence to support the case to continue him there. He was literally the worst defensive outfielder in the entire MLB last year. Which isn’t an issue, seeing as he is a 1st baseman, and was only put there to cover for the FO complete ineptitude at addressing that position. It didn’t work. Only a completely insane manager would force him back out there and expect different results.
I hope that is what happens. Colas plays well enough for Everyday RF, Vaughn is your 1B, and Eloy and Sheets take ABs primarily at DH, with Sheets enjoying some more time after Eloy inevitably sprains both big toes while walking back to the dugout on a fly out.
They have to trade one of them then, Eloy Vaughn or Sheets, because Sheets is a first baseman and Eloy needs 500 ABs
You aren’t trading Eloy. He is 35-40 HR potential. Sheets just isn’t. And he doesn’t have much value in trade either. He isn’t untradeable, but he isn’t getting you any type of impact prospect or player on his own.
BTW, you may think that I hate Sheets. I truly don’t. But he’s just the type of player that Sox were trotting out in 16. He is Daniel Palka 2.0.
I can’t fathom this team having an offensive year like they did last year. They were putrid with runners on, their power numbers were an absolute joke. Guys injured all over the place and the SP outside of Cease was Mediocre.
When on the field, Eloy has had good power numbers, and I’d expect Sheets and Vaughn to have decent power numbers this season. They still arent a big time power hitting team, they’ll need to rely on
getting on base, putting the ball in play, and baserunning, which is a little out of ordinary at US Cellular, which has traditionally been known as a ballpark that yields a lot of long balls.
But, Robert and Anderson have good speed at the top, Benintendi is a great contact hitter, so is Vaughn, Eloy and Sheets to clean up and Grandal and Moncada both have fairly strong career OBP, both have a little power too – will be interesting who the Sox start at second base.
I like the Sox, they are precariously on the verge of a tear down, will need to have a good first half.
I can promise you that if Sheets is seeing meaningful playing time again in RF, this team is in trouble. He is not a starting player on a good team. He is a lefty DH option at best, spot start in OF where you can hide him or at 1st to spell Vaughn. If he is getting in 90+, something has gone wrong with this team.
Vaughn has to get comfortable in RF, Sheets is a 6’5 lefty who can play first base, Vaughn has the arm and the speed to play in the outfield, and the fact is Sheets is the better defensive first baseman.
When your throwing across the diamond, throwing to a 6’5 240 lbs. lefty who is facing you broad as opposed to throwing to a 6’0 200 lbs. righty with his back to the plate – it’s a big difference. Sheets at first base helps the entire infield improve.
Plenty of righty first baseman, sure, but the very best defensive first baseman are lefties.
I think you’ll be surprised with Sheets bat too, I think he is a 30HR type of player.
Vaughn needs to learn to hit the slider!
….Or lay off of it
Just because Sheets is lefty, does not mean he is good defensively. And no, forcing a player out of a comfortable position to play an unfamiliar one and is absolutely terrible at it is how you break good talent.
Quite literally the only reason Sheets was on the team as much as he was last year was he was the ONLY true Lefty on this team that has any modicum of power, but 241/295/411 isnt gonna cut it at a prime hitting position like corner OF, much less 1B. I’ll say it again, if he has to play 90+ games, this team is in trouble.
If the Sox have to rely on Clevinger, they’re in big trouble. Cease, Giolito, Lynn and Kopech will tell if the Sox will play .500 ball again or reach they’re potential. Other teams won’t have to worry about the end of the shift because the Sox, for third year in a row won’t have a second baseman.
Nick Madrigal out there fellas. Let’s make a Deal!!??
Sadly, Madrigal might be a better option than literally everyone else at 2B they have.
Clevinger is going to have a big year. Like the Sox rotation.
How refreshing not to see “Wow” as the first comment
Wow… wow … wow.
As per Lionel Ritchie, you are once, twice, three times the doofus…
As per Lionel Richie, you are once, twice, three times a doofus…
Wow, it printed twice????
Wow
Hoping Giolito turns his brain off a bit this year and just pitches… seems to over-analyze A LOT. He made a major change a few years back, and it worked… you don’t have to make massive changes every off season.
Well this is it for Giolito
If he wants to be paid like an Ace he better show up this year.
Otherwise if he stinks and the Sox season tanks they should try to trade him before the deadline.
99 percent chance he’s not a White Sox in 2024
I would trade on a good offer
Curious what White Sox fans thought were Giolito’s problems last year. I followed him regularly as he’s on my fantasy team. I couldn’t cut him because I was sure he was going to turn the corner, but he never did. Gioloto and Berrios sunk my pitching staff! Rebound coming?
I’d say the biggest issue last year was his lack of a secondary pitch against RHH.
He loves his changeup (which is still elite), but that’s most effective against LHH.
He ditched his big curve a few years ago, but the problem is that his slider (at least last year) was not effective at all.
Otherwise, his velo and command was decent in 2022, so hopefully he’s been working on that breaking pitch to RHH this offseason.
The problem as I saw it was that he was throwing his pitches too high. All of them. When his out pitch, the change-up, hangs, it was hit a mile.
problem was no more sticky stuff.
I’m not a White Sox fan but I can solve this for you. His one good year was the outlier he’s not that good.
Clearly not a White Sox fan or you’d know 2019, 2020 and 2021 were all solid years for him.
I think so. He admitted he tried a different approach to working out and was 285 in spring. He is down to about 255 now, getting back to when he was successful.
Giolito was the ace in2019-21. He has one bad year and you want to dump him? Don’t give up on him yet. I’m sure he’s been working out with Katz this winter and it could put him right again
He may have been ‘the’ Ace for this club, but that does not make him ‘an’ Ace, not by a long shot. If he was such an ‘Ace’ why did the Sox have to go get Lance Lynn?
The guy had a chance to ‘show up’ the White Sox this past year that he was worth the money he wanted and fell flat on his face.. That tells me all I need to know about Giolito.. He made adjustments and had about 1.5 good years, until the league adjusted to his changes and he did nothing to account for that.
He’s going to sign with a west coast team. His head has already left town.
Giolito was the ace in2019-21. He has one bad year and you want to dump him? Don’t give up on him yet. I’m sure he’s been working8 out with Katz this winter and it could put him right again
He needs to drop weight pitched too heavy last year.
no chunky soup for you
He did. And he recognized that too.
Trade him and sign Bauer.
How about “NO”
“…..Gentlemen, brings me to my next point..Don’t smoke crack” (and then go to post comments)
Cease and Kopech also avoided arbitration.
Where are articles and particulars for these two?!
Cease deserves more than Giolito!
Sox and Gio went to Arb last year over like 50,000 dollars. Cheap a$$ Reinsdorf.
Are they though (I mean they are, but about Gio) I mean Gio really had a chance to ‘show’ them that he is worth every penny, and promptly went out and laid a colossal egg.
$5.6Mil for Cease!!
Wow! What a bargain!
Lets see Cease do it again before we start screaming about bargains…