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Lucas Giolito

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL East

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MLBTR wraps our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL East. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central, AL Central, NL East

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM free agent deal over the winter. He’s making $9MM this season and has a matching club option or a $1MM buyout for 2026. Kittredge was supposed to be a key setup man in front of Félix Bautista, but he suffered a left knee injury early in camp and required a debridement surgery. He began a rehab stint at High-A Aberdeen on Sunday. While there’s plenty of time for Kittredge to turn things around, it hasn’t been the start to his O’s tenure that he envisioned.

Laureano, who was non-tendered by the Braves, signed a $4MM contract with Baltimore in February. That came with a $6.5MM team option without a buyout, giving the Orioles an extra season of club control. Injuries to Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser have pressed him into everyday work, mostly in left field. He hasn’t provided much through his first 24 games. Laureano is hitting .185 with a .237 on-base percentage through 59 plate appearances. He has hit a trio of home runs but struck out 18 times while drawing only four walks. Laureano has generally been a below-average hitter since being suspended following a positive PED test in 2021. He’ll need much better production over the next few months for the Orioles to exercise the option.

Boston Red Sox

Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal to match the price of the qualifying offer — which the Dodgers had declined to issue when he hit the market. It’s a relatively expensive pillow contract. Buehler was coming off a dismal regular season, in which he’d posted a 5.38 ERA with a career-worst 18.6% strikeout rate over 16 starts. He finished his Dodger tenure on a high note, though, closing out the World Series while pitching to a 3.60 earned run average in 15 playoff innings.

An ace-caliber pitcher early in his career, Buehler hasn’t looked the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August 2022. His stint in Boston has gotten out to a shaky start. While his 4.28 ERA through 33 2/3 innings is serviceable, he’s striking out just 20.7% of opponents while averaging a personal-low 93.5 MPH on his fastball. Shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list last week. The mutual option was always an accounting measure designed to push the $3MM buyout to the end of the year rather than disbursing it throughout the season as salary. The team seems likelier to decline its end than the pitcher does.

Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal during the 2023-24 offseason. He negotiated an opt-out clause after the first season and hoped to retest the market after one strong year. Instead, Giolito’s elbow gave out during Spring Training and he required UCL surgery that cost him the entire season. The veteran righty made the easy decision to stick around for year two.

By exercising his player option, Giolito unlocked a 2026 option for the team. It’s valued at $14MM and comes with a $1.5MM buyout. If Giolito pitches 140 innings this year, it’d convert to a $19MM mutual option (still with the $1.5MM buyout). That’d give him a chance to test free agency if he wants. Giolito has an uphill battle to 140 frames. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season. He finally made his team debut last week, working six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against Toronto. The Rangers tagged him for six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 frames tonight.

The Red Sox added Hendriks on a two-year, $10MM deal over the 2023-24 offseason. They knew they wouldn’t get much in year one, as Hendriks had undergone Tommy John surgery the prior August. He attempted to make a late-season return last year but was shut down after a minor flare-up of elbow discomfort. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple weeks to begin this season, though he made his team debut in mid-April.

Hendriks allowed two runs on three hits in one inning during his first appearance. He has rattled off five straight scoreless outings since then, albeit with four walks in five frames. His 95 MPH average fastball is solid but below the 97-98 range at which he sat during his elite seasons with the White Sox.

Note: Jarren Duran’s arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with an $8MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Sox decline the option.

New York Yankees

  • Tim Hill, LHP ($3MM club option, $350K buyout)

Hill finished last season with the Yankees after being released by the White Sox in June. He’d allowed nearly six earned runs per nine with Chicago but managed a tidy 2.05 ERA over 44 frames for New York. He’s out to a similarly productive start to the ’25 season. Hill has surrendered five runs through 17 1/3 innings (2.60 ERA).

While the soft-tossing lefty has managed just 11 strikeouts, his game has always been built around ground-balls. He’s getting grounders at a massive 81.6% clip thus far. Only nine of the 40 batted balls he’s allowed have been hit into the air. It’s easily the highest grounder rate in the majors. The Yankees value this skillset as much as any team, and the $2.65MM option decision is a drop in the bucket for them.

Loáisiga is still working back from last April’s elbow surgery. The righty has generally been a productive reliever when healthy, but he’s only once managed even 50 MLB innings in a season. He’s on a rehab stint with Low-A Tampa and will need another few weeks before he’s built into MLB game shape. Loáisiga is making $5MM this season. The option has a matching base value and could climb by another $500K if the Yankees exercise it. He’d earn $100K each at reaching 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 innings in 2026.

Tampa Bay Rays

Fairbanks is in the final guaranteed season of the three-year, $12MM extension that he signed before the 2023 campaign. That includes a $1MM buyout on a club option that comes with a $7MM base value. That’s a bargain for a quality high-leverage reliever, but the deal includes various escalators that could push the option price above $12MM.

The option value would climb by $500K if he gets to 125 combined appearances between 2023-25 and another $1MM apiece at 135, 150 and 165 combined outings. Fairbanks made it into 95 games over the first two seasons. He’d trigger the first $500K escalator at just 30 appearances this year and would max it out if he makes it into 70 games. He can boost the option price by another $2MM based on this year’s games finished total: $500K apiece at 25, 30, 35 and 40.

Fairbanks has never reached 50 appearances in a season because of various injuries, but he’s already at 14 games through this season’s first six weeks. Fairbanks has finished 11 of those contests while working as Kevin Cash’s primary closer. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against six walks while allowing three runs over 13 1/3 innings. The option price should remain solid value, though the escalators might eventually push it to an area where Tampa Bay would rather explore deadline or offseason trades rather than having a reliever projecting as one of the highest-paid players on the roster.

Jansen seemed to be pulling away from the rest of a weak free agent catching class early last season. His production tanked from June onwards, leaving him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with Tampa Bay. He’s making an $8MM salary and will collect a $500K buyout on a $12MM mutual option at year’s end. Last summer’s offensive drought has carried into 2025. Jansen has only one home run with a .147/.301/.221 batting line through 83 plate appearances. He remains a very patient hitter, but the Rays would have an easy decision to decline their end of the option if he doesn’t find the double-digit home run power he showed during his best seasons in Toronto.

Lowe has had a rare extended run with a Tampa Bay team that is almost always willing to trade any player. He’s in his eighth big league season and in year seven of the extension he signed in Spring Training 2019. Lowe collected $24MM for what would have been his standard six seasons of team control. The Rays exercised a $10.5MM option for this year and can retain him once more at an $11.5MM price. It’s an $11MM decision after accounting for the $500K buyout.

While injuries have been a recurring issue, Lowe has been one of the better offensive middle infielders in the sport when healthy. His 39-homer season in 2021 is an outlier, but he has tallied 21 longballs in each of the past two seasons. He’s out to a much slower start this year, batting .203/.258/.305 with four homers across 128 plate appearances. The batted ball metrics are still solid, but his career-worst 20.1% swinging strike rate is the fifth-highest among hitters with at least 50 PAs.

This one can still go a few different ways. If Lowe hits like this all season, he’d be bought out. If he finds something like his 2023-24 form (.238/.319/.458), then $11MM is reasonable. It’d keep him as one of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players, though, so there’s a decent chance he’ll be traded at some point this year. The 16-18 Rays look like fringe Wild Card contenders for a second consecutive year. They could again try to walk the line between buying and selling come deadline season.

The Rays signed Waguespack to a restructured deal early last offseason. He’s making $1.3MM this season and has a $1.5MM club option for next year. That’d escalate to $2MM if he reaches 20 “points” this season. Waguespack would receive one point for each MLB relief appearance and two points per big league start. He has spent the ’25 season to date on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham.

Working as a pure reliever for the Bulls, Waguespack has reeled off 14 innings of two-run ball. He has fanned 15 hitters against three walks while getting ground-balls at a lofty 60% clip. It hasn’t earned him a major league call yet, but he should be up before too much longer if he keeps performing at that level. Waguespack spent the 2022-23 seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He made four MLB appearances with Tampa Bay last year but lost a good portion of the season to a rotator cuff injury.

Note: Taylor Walls’ arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with a $2.45MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Rays decline the option.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • None

Red Sox To Activate Lucas Giolito From IL On Wednesday

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Almost 17 months after signing with the Red Sox, Lucas Giolito is finally set to make his first official appearance in a Boston uniform.  Manager Alex Cora told reporters (including the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham) that Giolito will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, and start that day’s game in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5MM free agent deal with the Sox in January 2024, with the second season technically a player option year that Giolito could have declined in order to re-enter free agency.  There is also a conditional option that triggered when Giolito declined to opt out, as the Red Sox now hold a $14MM club option on Giolito’s services for 2026.  That club option can become a $19MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout if Giolito pitches at least 140 innings in 2025, which remains possible even though he has already missed a month of action.

Back in the 2023-24 offseason, the deal was seen as something of a bet-on-yourself type of pillow contract for Giolito, who was trying to rebuild his stock after underwhelming results in each of the previous two seasons.  The right-hander’s ideal scenario would’ve seen him post strong enough numbers in 2024 to establish himself as a frontline starter, and then opt out of the final year of his Boston contract in order to land a much lengthier and pricier deal with the Sox or another team last winter.

Unfortunately for Giolito, that plan was almost immediately ruined when he suffered a partial right UCL tear and a flexor tendon strain during Spring Training.  The injury required an internal brace procedure that ended Giolito’s season before it even began, though the one silver lining is that Giolito at least avoided a Tommy John surgery that would’ve delayed his return until closer to the middle of this season.  If anything, Giolito might’ve been back already if it wasn’t for a hamstring strain suffered in Spring Training that led to this month-long stint on the 15-day IL.

Giolito has made five starts during his minor league rehab assignment, and a 5.19 ERA across those 17 1/3 rehab innings isn’t as important as the fact that Giolito is feeling healthy and ready to re-launch his big league career.  With Brayan Bello also returning from a season-opening IL stint last week, Boston’s rotation is starting to round into form after a spate of injuries left the staff scrambling for depth.  Though Kutter Crawford and Richard Fitts remain sidelined, the Sox will now have a set starting five of Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, Tanner Houck, Bello, and Giolito.  Sean Newcomb will likely move from the rotation into a depth role at Triple-A, or perhaps a spot in Boston’s pen.

Red Sox Notes: Crawford, Rotation, Campbell

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The Red Sox opened the season with something of a patchwork rotation after the club lost three of its regular starters to the injured list to open the season. While Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are both working their way back to the majors on rehab assignments, with Bello in particular scheduled to make his second of what MassLive’s Christopher Smith suggests could be three total rehab starts tomorrow, righty Kutter Crawford appears to be well behind the other two as MassLive’s Chris Cotillo writes that Crawford has not yet advanced to facing live hitters.

That both Bello and Giolito (who Smith notes is slated to start for Triple-A on Tuesday) are scheduled to make their second rehab starts this week is encouraging. The righties have both long been expected to rejoin the rotation at some point this month, and while Giolito’s exact timetable is still not yet fully clear the fact that Bello could return to the rotation after just three rehab outings means he could be back on the mound in Boston as soon as April 16 against the Rays in Tampa, assuming he maintains a schedule of regular rest and suffers no additional setbacks. Right-hander Richard Fitts and southpaw Sean Newcomb have been filling in at the back of the club’s rotation behind Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, and Walker Buehler, but it’s possible the club could opt for a six man rotation when the pitching staff is healthier.

That would potentially open up a path for either Fitts or Newcomb to continue starting for the Red Sox going forward while Crawford works his way back to the mound. Unfortunately, Cotillo suggests that’s still a ways away, writing that May or perhaps even June appear to be the most realistic timeline for the righty’s return to the majors. Crawford, 29, made all 33 of his starts for the Red Sox last year but pitched through knee issues last year that compromised his effectiveness in the second half and lingered into Spring Training. While Crawford told Cotillo that surgery is not currently on the table as a fix for his ailment, even the time he’s spent resting and treating the issue has served more to mitigate the pain rather than solve the problem entirely.

In other Red Sox news, Cotillo writes that club manager Alex Cora has indicated the club’s defensive plans for star prospect Kristian Campbell are changing. The versatile Campbell has split his time between second base and left field to this point in his brief big league career after playing the outfield, second base, third base, and shortstop in the minors. While no drastic changes to his usage are expected, with Campbell still remaining at the keystone on most days, Cora told reporters (including Cotillo) that the plan going forward is for Campbell to slide into center field on days where David Hamilton is in the lineup at second base.

Previously, Campbell had taken over left field with Jarren Duran shifting over to center on those days. The change comes as a result of Campbell’s comfort in center, where more than 80% of his minor league innings on the outfield grass have occurred, as well as Duran’s ability to handle the unusual left field situation in Fenway Park, which requires fielders to play balls off of the iconic Green Monster that tend to ricochet at atypical angles. Campbell has so far played just one game in left this year, but the amount of time he spends on the grass appears likely to be impacted primarily by the performance of Rafaela and Hamilton in the early days of the season and potentially the eventual call-ups of his fellow top prospects. If top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer makes it to the majors first, that would surely increase Campbell’s time spent in the outfield, while he’d likely spend even more of his time on the dirt if Mayer is beaten to the big leagues by top outfield prospect Roman Anthony.

Red Sox Place Liam Hendriks On 15-Day IL

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March 28: Despite the season-opening IL placement, Hendriks is not facing a severe injury, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic writes. He’s already been examined by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his Tommy John surgery, and received a cortisone injection to help alleviate some inflammation and discomfort stemming from a compressed nerve. There’s no structural damage in Hendriks’ elbow. He’ll be shut down from throwing for three to five days but expects to resume throwing during next week’s series against the Orioles.

March 27: The Red Sox announced a slate of transactions to finalize their Opening Day roster, including a surprise placement of righty Liam Hendriks on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Fellow right-hander Cooper Criswell, who had appeared ticketed for Triple-A Worcester, will instead break camp with the big league club.

Boston also selected the contracts of lefty Sean Newcomb and top prospect Kristian Campbell. Both have formally made the Opening Day roster. Lefties Chris Murphy and Zach Penrod were placed on the 60-day injured list to open spots. Murphy is recovering from UCL surgery performed last spring. Penrod was diagnosed with a left elbow sprain earlier in camp.

Additionally, the Red Sox placed Masataka Yoshida on the 10-day IL as he continues building back up from offseason shoulder surgery. Righties Brayan Bello (shoulder strain), Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring strain) were all placed on the 15-day IL, as expected.

Hendriks, who turned 36 last month, is entering the second season of a two-year, $10MM deal. The Red Sox signed him knowing that he’d miss most of all of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The expectation early in camp was that he and offseason signee Aroldis Chapman could compete for ninth-inning work. The tide changed quickly. Chapman fanned 14 of the 30 batters he faced and held opponents to two runs in 7 1/3 innings. Hendriks allowed seven runs on 14 hits in just 6 1/3 frames. He didn’t walk anyone but also only whiffed four of the 32 hitters he faced.

The Red Sox haven’t yet provided a timetable for when Hendriks might return to the mound. For now, there’s no indication that he’s dealing with a long-term injury. Presumably, manager Alex Cora will have more information regarding his potential timetable when he meets with the media later today.

Lucas Giolito To Begin Season On Injured List

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Red Sox righty Lucas Giolito will begin the 2025 season on the 15-day injured list, manager Alex Cora announced this morning (link via Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe). Giolito exited his Grapefruit League debut earlier this week after one inning due to tightness in his hamstring. A subsequent MRI revealed a low-grade strain, the right-hander himself revealed to the team’s beat this morning (link via MassLive’s Sean McAdam). While Giolito isn’t being shut down from throwing entirely, it seems they’ll back off enough that Opening Day won’t be realistic.

Giolito, 30, signed a two-year, $38.5MM contract with the Sox in the 2023-24 offseason but has yet to throw a regular season pitch for them. A partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow last spring led to an internal brace procedure that wiped out his entire 2024 campaign. His elbow was healthy enough to get back on the mound this week and put him in position to break camp in the rotation, but the hamstring issue will prevent that from happening. The team hasn’t put forth a specific timetable for his return, though it’s relatively encouraging that it’s being termed “low-grade” and that Giolito is still throwing.

The Red Sox will now open the season with three starting pitchers on the injured list. Giolito joins Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Kutter Crawford (knee) in that regard. That leaves the Red Sox with a group including Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and two of Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts, Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski in the rotation.

Giolito tells Rob Bradford of WEEI that he doesn’t feel the IL stint is necessary but acknowledged that it’s the team’s call. “If I were in charge, I would like to throw a ’pen tomorrow,” says Giolito. “I don’t know they want me to do that.” The right-hander notes that he felt 100% after playing catch this morning and is hoping it’ll be a minimum stay on the injured list.

With two starters already shelved, it seems the Sox will opt for the extra cautious route despite some ostensible protest from Giolito himself. The team can ill afford to see Giolito go down with a more severe strain that’d sideline him for a lengthier period. If he’s out for only a minimal stay, he could be reinstated just 12 days into the 2025 campaign, as Opening Day IL placements can be backdated by the maximum three days.

Lucas Giolito Headed For MRI With Hamstring Tightness

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Lucas Giolito left Tuesday’s start after one inning with left hamstring tightness. Manager Alex Cora told the Boston beat that Giolito will head for an MRI on Wednesday (relayed by Ian Browne of MLB.com). The team doesn’t seem overly concerned, but it’s a situation worth monitoring.

Cora confirmed this morning that Brayan Bello will begin the season on the injured list after shoulder soreness delayed his ramp-up. He’ll join Kutter Crawford, who has yet to pitch this spring because of right knee soreness that dates back to last April. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic writes that the timeline on Crawford remains uncertain. Cora indicated that while Crawford is making incremental progress, he isn’t close to even throwing a live batting practice session.

The Sox are slated for a season-opening top four of Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and Giolito. Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester and Cooper Criswell are in the mix for the final rotation spot. If Giolito’s hamstring proves problematic, that’d likely press two of Fitts, Priester and Criswell into the starting five. The Sox are also building up non-roster invitee Michael Fulmer as a potential starter.

Giolito is still looking to make his Red Sox debut. He sustained a UCL tear in last year’s Spring Training and required internal brace surgery. Hamstring tightness is obviously less concerning than if Giolito had experienced any kind of renewed elbow discomfort. Still, the team won’t know until the imaging comes back whether there’s a risk of a season-opening IL stint.

Red Sox Notes: Third Base, Giolito, Murphy

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The Red Sox have been dealing with some tension around the infield this spring, as their recent acquisition of Alex Bregman has led to questions about where Bregman—and, by extension, Rafael Devers—will play in 2024. Bregman is the superior defender at third base, but Devers to publicly emphasized that his position is third base. Meanwhile, team officials have refused to declare either Devers or Bregman the starting third baseman to this point. Today, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to reporters (including MassLive’s Sean McAdam) about the situation, and downplayed the severity of any clubhouse issues that could arise over the team’s infield alignment.

“I think having really good players that are talking about positions is not a terrible place to be in,” Breslow said, as relayed by McAdam. “…my obligation is to put the best team on the field, on both offense and defense that I can possibly can… So we’ll continue to have those conversations.”

Breslow’s comments seem to clearly indicate that the club has no intention of handing him the third base job out of respect for his tenure at the position. Given that the club seems to be staying the course of determining its infield alignment based on performance this spring, Breslow noted that he has confidence in the ability of manager Alex Cora to handle any concerns within the clubhouse resulting from the ongoing battle for third base.

“But part of the reason we as an organization feel that Alex is the perfect manager for the Red Sox is his ability to command a clubhouse, his ability to communicate with players across different cultures and ethnicities.” Breslow said, as relayed by McAdam. “He’s such a great communicator. …any time you have a talent roster, there are players who are going to want more playing time or fill different roles. You rely on the manager to be able to have those conversations and get everybody moving in the same direction.”

Should Bregman ultimately be installed at the hot corner with Devers moving to DH, Cora’s ability to communicate and command the clubhouse may be put to the test. Devers has long maintained his desire to stick at third base and has clearly expressed a very strong preference to remain at the hot corner all throughout his career, and Cora himself has even acknowledged that Devers was promised that he’d be the club’s third baseman long term when he signed a 10-year extension with the club prior to the 2023 season. Of course, that pact came under former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom rather than Breslow, opening the door to the tensions the Red Sox are facing today.

Elsewhere on the roster, the Red Sox are dealing with a number of injury woes impacting their rotation. Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito are all behind at this point in camp due to various ailments, but Christopher Smith of MassLive relayed a positive update on the status of Giolito. While Giolito has been a bit slow out of the gate this year as he continues to recover from the internal brace procedure he underwent last spring, he noted earlier this winter that he expects to be ready for Opening Day. Per Smith, a major step in the right-hander’s process of preparing for the start of the season will take place tomorrow, when he’s scheduled to throw his first live batting practice since going under he knife last year.

Giolito’s status entering the season figures to take on outsized importance for the Red Sox given the fact that both Crawford and Bello are nursing injury situations of their own. Smith adds that Bello threw from 90 feet today as he battles back from a bout of shoulder soreness, and that his progression from here will be determined by a strength test later today. As for Crawford, the right-hander is still feeling discomfort due to his patellar tendon in long toss and bullpen sessions. It’s a worrying sign for the right-hander, who pitched through knee issues for much of the 2024 season. Those problems have lingered into the start of camp this year and appear to be putting Crawford’s availability for Opening Day in doubt.

In more pleasant injury news, Smith writes that southpaw Chris Murphy has resumed throwing bullpens after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in April. The southpaw isn’t expected to be a factor for the Red Sox in at least the early part of the year year, but Smith relays that Murphy hopes to pitch in the majors at some point in 2025 wouldn’t completely rule out a return in the first half of the season. For now, he’s taking things slowly with 10- and 15-pitch bullpen sessions, both of which featured exclusively fastballs.

A return late in the first half or even at some point in the second half would be a welcome development for the Red Sox, as the 26-year-old looked like an interesting piece during his rookie season back in 2023. The lefty appeared in 20 games for Boston as a multi-inning reliever, and while his 4.91 ERA in those 47 2/3 innings was fairly lackluster he still managed to open some eyes thanks to a solid 23.1% strikeout rate and a 3.70 FIP. Once he’s healthy, the southpaw could compete with players like Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski for a spot as a long man in the Red Sox bullpen this year.

Red Sox Injury Notes: Crawford, Bello, Giolito, Rotation, Abreu

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When the Red Sox opened camp last week, Kutter Crawford stood out as an immediate injury concern due to a lingering knee problem that first arose last April.  The situation hasn’t much improved, as manager Alex Cora told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (multiple links) and other reporters that Crawford’s right patellar tendon is still giving him discomfort following a long-toss session on Thursday and a bullpen session yesterday.

“Opening Day, right now, is an ’if.’  Let’s see what happens,” Cora said.  “[Crawford is] not feeling well.  He’s behind. We’ve got to make sure the knee is good so the shoulder doesn’t suffer.”

Unfortunately for the Sox, Crawford isn’t the only pitcher facing uncertainty early in camp, as Brayan Bello has been dealing with shoulder soreness since the start of spring camp.  Cora said Bello will undergo a strength test tomorrow, as the Red Sox continue to evaluate the right-hander’s status.  To date, Bello has been throwing, but the team has been taking it relatively slowly with this progression, and Cora said Bello hasn’t thrown any bullpens.  Between the two starters, Crawford seems to be more of a question mark than Bello, as Cora said that “with Kutter, that’s the one it looks like is going to be long.”

With over a month before Opening Day, there is plenty of time for either pitcher to still get healthy for the season in general, even if the Red Sox could be cautious in placing Crawford and/or Bello on the 15-day injured list just to provide more ramp-up time.  In theory, Boston has a good deal of pitching depth on hand in the form of Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester and Michael Fulmer, so any of these arms could fill in for Crawford, Bello, or Lucas Giolito, who is still working through his rehab from an internal brace surgery from last March.

Only five proper starters will be needed in the early going, as Cora confirmed that Boston will be using a five-man rotation.  Reports in January indicated that the Sox were at least thinking about a six-man staff in order to best utilize and manage its starting depth, but Cora said “we haven’t talked about a six-man.  You guys have talked about it.  If we go that route, it’s for a reason.  For right now, we’re taking the best five and using the bullpen.”

This lines the staff up as Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, Giolito if healthy enough for Opening Day, and then potentially one of the depth starters if Bello and Crawford indeed aren’t available.  Plans could certainly change given Boston’s busy early schedule, as both Cotillo and Cora noted that the team plays on 19 of the regular season’s first 20 days.

The injury bug is also impacting Boston’s position players, as Wilyer Abreu has yet to start workouts due to a gastrointestinal virus.  A team spokesperson told Cotillo and other reporters that Abreu received “some abnormal labs” on his illness, but the “labs have been getting better, and he’s feeling better, but they’re waiting for those to get back to a normal range before baseball activity.”

More testing is coming on Monday, Cora said, and Abreu will sit through the weekend.  A timeline isn’t in place for how much time Abreu could still miss, or whether or not this absence could cost him any time on the injured list at the start of the season.  Abreu is slated for another heavy role in Boston’s outfield this season, as the Gold Glover looks to build on a very successful rookie year.

Lucas Giolito Expects To Be Ready For Opening Day

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Lucas Giolito is going into what he hopes will be a rebound year. His first season with the Red Sox was wiped out by a Spring Training elbow injury that required an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL.

The internal brace is generally a less invasive operation than a full Tommy John surgery. That can shave a few months off the projected recovery timeline. Giolito underwent his surgery in the middle of March. With Spring Training opening one year later, the right-hander expects to be on the mound in exhibition play.

“I’m going to be ready for a full Spring Training and a full season,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “I find it funny when I see stuff online saying that I’ll be coming back in June. I don’t know where that came from. I have no idea. … Everything’s going great. I look forward to a full year.”

Giolito said he is towards the tail end of his rehab process at the team’s complex in Fort Myers. He indicated he expects to progress to throwing off a mound soon. Giolito added that teammate Garrett Whitlock, who underwent the same procedure in late May, is at a similar stage in his own rehab work.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this morning. Breslow wasn’t as firm as Giolito had been about the pitcher being ready for the start of exhibition play, but he said that the team indeed expects to have both Giolito and Whitlock available for “the bulk of 2025 if not all of it.” Breslow added that reliever Liam Hendriks, who’ll be a year and a half removed from August ’23 Tommy John surgery, will be a full go for Spring Training. That’s the expected outcome, as Hendriks had a chance to return at the end of this past season before minor arm discomfort led the Sox to shut him down in September.

Giolito conceded that he may need to compete for a rotation spot in what is shaping up as a new-look pitching staff. The Sox have added Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler this offseason. They’re likely to lose Nick Pivetta, who remains unsigned after rejecting a qualifying offer. Crochet and Buehler join Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford in the projected starting five. If Boston prefers to open the year with a five-man rotation, Giolito (assuming he’s indeed on track for Opening Day) may compete with Crawford for the #5 job. Crawford has experience working out of the bullpen but took all 33 turns through the rotation this year.

In any case, the Sox will likely need to rely on all six pitchers to start games over the course of a 162-game schedule. Whitlock, who has yet to reach 80 MLB innings in a season, could be a candidate to head back to the bullpen. Boston moved Whitlock into the rotation to start the ’24 campaign, but he went on the injured list with an oblique strain after four appearances. He injured his elbow during a minor league rehab assignment. Given the durability questions, a return to a two- or three-inning relief role may be appropriate.

Giolito will play next season on a $19MM player option. The Red Sox hold a $14MM club option for the 2026 season. Giolito would convert that to a mutual option valued at $19MM if he’s able to log 140 innings next year. If he opens the year on the active roster, that’s a reasonable target even though he didn’t pitch this past season. Durability had been one of the righty’s biggest pluses coming into this year. Giolito had made 29+ starts in each of the preceding five full schedules. He tossed a career-high 184 1/3 innings with a combined 4.88 earned run average between the White Sox, Angels and Guardians in 2023.

Players Linked To Union Discord Replaced In MLBPA Subcommittee Vote

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Back in March, disagreements within the Major League Baseball Players Association led to a battle for power within the union that was often framed as a mutiny or a coup. At that time, three active players were connected to the overthrow attempt: Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ. Those three were on the MLBPA eight-player executive subcommittee but none of those three remain after recent voting, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

MLBTR readers who want a full refresher on the situation can check out these posts from March. The 2023-2024 offseason was miserable for players, as various teams dialed back spending, often citing declining TV revenue as the reason. Several players signed contracts that were far below initial expectations, most prominently the “Boras Four” of Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger.

On the heels of that winter, frustration boiled up within the players and they eventually appeared to be split into two camps. One camp attempted to replace deputy director Bruce Meyer with Harry Marino, and it was suggested by some that executive director Tony Clark also would have been ousted in the event Meyer was replaced. Ultimately, those efforts stalled out and the Clark/Meyer duo stayed atop the union’s leadership structure.

Marino had previously been the head of Advocates For Minor Leaguers, the group that unionized minor league players. The minor leaguers were placed under the MLBPA umbrella, with Marino and Meyer then negotiating with MLB the first ever collective bargaining agreement for minor league players. Minor leaguers received 34 of the 72 seats on the MLBPA executive board, but Marino and Meyer reportedly did not get along, with Marino leaving the union at some point.

Though Marino was out of the union, it seems he was well liked enough in some circles that this attempt was made to install him into a very prominent position. Despite the frustrating winter for players, Meyer had made some notable gains for players in the 2022 CBA, his first in this role. The competitive balance tax tiers all went up, though a fourth tier was added. The minimum salaries were also raised in notable fashion, and a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players was created, among other advancements for players.

Regardless, the frustration was real and significant enough to threaten Meyer and perhaps Clark in the leadership structure, though they ultimately survived. Back in March, Flaherty seemed to express regret about the way things played out, though he also seemed surprised by the way Marino proceeded.

“There was one phone call that went on that I put Tony in a bad position in, where Harry tried to push his way through,” Flaherty told Ken Rosenthal at the time. “He tried to pressure Tony, and Tony stood strong, said this is not going to happen. Tony has done nothing but stand strong in all of this. That was something I would love to take back. I never wanted Harry to be in Bruce’s position.” Flaherty repeated that he was not trying to replace Meyer. “I said he’s not somebody to replace Bruce, but if you guys want to listen to him, we can continue this conversation. Things got way out of hand after that.” Flaherty then went on to compliment Meyer for the job he had done with the recent CBA.

The MLBPA votes on those subcommittee spots every two years. The union announced this week a new subcommittee consisting of Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Marcus Semien and Brent Suter. Semien and Suter are the lone holdovers from the previous subcommittee.

As noted by Drellich, the subcommittee is significant because key matters are often settled with a 38-person vote. Each of the 30 teams have a representative with one vote, and the eight subcommittee members get the remaining eight votes. Those 30 team reps vote on the eight subcommittee members. The eight players selected this week will have their positions for the next two years, which aligns with the end of the current CBA, as that agreement goes until Dec. 2, 2026.

All relations between MLB and the MLBPA have appeared to be contentious in recent years, from CBA negotiations to the COVID-related shutdown to on-field rule changes. The most recent CBA involved a lockout of more than three months and came perilously close to canceling games. On the other hand, the two sides agreed in the middle of the 2024 campaign to redirect some CBT money towards teams that had lost broadcast revenue, a fairly rare instance of a notable financial decision made outside normal CBA talks.

With another round of collective bargaining due two years from now, the possibility of another lockout is also on the horizon. The league and the union will have plenty to work out, including the ongoing broadcast uncertainty, the international draft and other big-picture issues along with the typical bargaining topics like salaries, taxes and revenue sharing. As such, the developments within the union will have notable ramifications for the baseball world.

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