{"id":624600,"date":"2026-04-23T00:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624600\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T00:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:11:14","slug":"padres-reach-one-year-deal-with-free-agent-lucas-giolito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624600\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres reach one-year deal with free agent Lucas Giolito"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Diego Padres<\/a> have signed veteran right-hander Lucas Giolito<\/a>to a one-year contract guaranteeing just under $2.8 million, bolstering the surging club’s injury-plagued rotation with the top starter left on the free agent market.<\/p>\n

Giolito is guaranteed $2,775,401 in the deal, which includes a 2027 mutual option.<\/p>\n

He will report to Class A Lake Elsinore to build up his endurance before reporting to the Padres in mid-May.<\/p>\n

Giolito, 31, is a Southern California native who went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA over 26 starts last year for the Boston Red Sox<\/a>, bouncing back solidly after missing the 2024 season because his right ulnar collateral ligament was repaired with an internal brace that March.<\/p>\n

He became a free agent after declining his end of a $19 million mutual option with the Red Sox.<\/p>\n

Giolito has played parts of nine seasons in the majors for the Washington Nationals<\/a>, Chicago White Sox<\/a>, Los Angeles Angels<\/a>,Cleveland Guardians<\/a>and Red Sox, going 71-66 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.<\/p>\n

He has been durable and dependable for most of his career while earning an All-Star selection in 2019 and throwing a no-hitter in 2020. Despite missing a season because of injury, Giolito ranks in the top five among American League pitchers from 2018 to 2025 in innings pitched (1,092), strikeouts (1,153), wins (68) and complete games (5).<\/p>\n

But Giolito remained on the free agent market nearly one month into the regular season before landing with the Padres, who are pitching superbly this season despite major upheaval and injury problems in their rotation.<\/p>\n

Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta<\/a> went on the injured list last week with a right elbow flexor strain that could keep him out for months<\/a>, while Joe Musgrove<\/a> has yet to make his season debut<\/a> after a slower-than-expected return from Tommy John surgery. Yu Darvish<\/a> already is out for the season<\/a> with an elbow injury, and Dylan Cease<\/a> left last fall for a $210 million free agent deal with theToronto Blue Jays<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet the Padres’ team ERA is the second lowest in the majors at 3.22 after they beat theColorado Rockies<\/a>1-0<\/a> on Tuesday night for their 11th victory in 12 games. San Diego (16-7) is even with the back-to-back champion Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> for the best record in the majors.<\/p>\n

General manager A.J. Preller figured out a way to fit Giolito under his budget even while his team is in ownership transition. The family of late Padres owner Peter Seidler is nearing a sale of the team<\/a> to billionaire Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones.<\/p>\n

Giolito will slot immediately into a rotation that currently includes Michael King<\/a>, Randy Vasquez<\/a>, German Marquez<\/a> and former Dodgers star Walker Buehler<\/a>. Right-hander Matt Waldron<\/a> took a start last week after Pivetta’s injury but struggled in a loss to the Angels.<\/p>\n

Giolito agreed to a two-year, $38.5 million contract with Boston in January 2024. He will attempt to build on his strong work with the Red Sox in 2025, when he went 9-1 with a 2.26 ERA in 15 starts from June 10 to Aug. 31 after a slower start to the season. Opponents hit .194 (25-for-129) against his changeup and .200 (3-for-15) against his curveball.<\/p>\n

He was left off Boston’s postseason roster after experiencing some elbow discomfort in mid-September, but there was no structural damage — something he said was “a small relief in a very unfortunate situation.”<\/p>\n

Giolito hasn’t pitched in the postseason since 2021, when he made his second career playoff appearance for the White Sox.<\/p>\n

San Diego transferred right-hander Bryan Hoeing<\/a> to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Giolito on the 40-man roster.br\/]<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Padres have signed veteran right-hander Lucas Giolitoto a one-year contract guaranteeing just under $2.8 million,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[302533,64,63,5156,794,302532,591,44,1189,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-624600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-302533","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-boston-red-sox","12":"tag-espn","13":"tag-giolito-lucas","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-san-diego-padres","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}