Major League Baseball teams reached an important offseason checkpoint on Thursday: the deadline to issue qualifying offers to their eligible free agents. A qualifying offer is a mechanism that allows clubs to extend a one-year contract to a player who is leaving for free agency.
If a team issues the offer and the player rejects it and signs somewhere else, the original club receives draft-pick compensation. If the player accepts, he returns on a set, predetermined salary for the upcoming season. For 2026, that salary figure was locked in at $22 million.
The Boston Red Sox chose not to use this option on any of their free agents, which was especially noteworthy in the case of starting pitcher Lucas Giolito. Throughout the weeks leading up to the deadline, Giolito had been considered a strong candidate to receive a qualifying offer.
His performance during 2025 generated enough intrigue that some evaluators believed the Red Sox might use the offer as a way to either keep him for one more season or ensure they would gain draft-pick compensation if he signed elsewhere. Instead, the Red Sox passed on making that offer, signaling that they are ready to let Giolito walk away without any guaranteed return.
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With that decision, Giolito now officially enters unrestricted free agency. Because he was not extended the $22 million qualifying offer, he is now free to negotiate and sign with any club across the league without costing that team draft picks or international spending penalties. Teams ordinarily must consider the financial and developmental cost associated with signing a player who has rejected a qualifying offer, since the signing club loses draft capital and other resources.
In Giolito’s case, the lack of a qualifying offer removes that hurdle entirely and makes him a more attractive target for pitching-needy organizations.
Giolito’s 2025 season with Boston was something of an emotional roller coaster, defined by stretches of effectiveness as well as frustrating inconsistency. When the season began, he struggled to find rhythm and command.
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His early outings reflected those difficulties, and his numbers were underwhelming. However, once the calendar flipped to June, Giolito put together a strong, sustained run of success. From June through August, he posted an impressive 2.89 ERA across 93⅓ innings, giving the Red Sox rotation a dependable, stabilizing presence. During that window, he looked like the reliable mid-rotation workhorse Boston hoped it had acquired—someone capable of piling up innings, keeping the team in games, and competing with any opposing starter.
But just as he appeared to settle in, things changed. Toward the end of the year, Giolito began experiencing elbow discomfort, and the Red Sox quietly removed him from their Wild Card Series roster. At first, the decision puzzled fans and analysts, but the team later revealed the elbow issue was the factor behind the omission. As the regular season wound down, Giolito’s fastball velocity began to taper off noticeably, and his overall effectiveness declined. The sharpness he displayed earlier in the year faded, leading to questions not only about his health but also about what kind of pitcher he will be going forward.
While Giolito’s future is uncertain, Boston’s path appears clearer. The Red Sox, entering the 2026 season, boast a surprisingly deep stable of starting pitchers. Their projected rotation is expected to be anchored by Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello, two arms viewed as foundational pieces moving forward.
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Crochet, after being acquired and transitioned full-time into the rotation, impressed the organization with his pitchability, strike-throwing, and ability to neutralize hitters on both sides of the plate. Bello, meanwhile, has had some ups and downs, but Boston remains convinced of his long-term potential and sees him as a pitcher ready to take another step.
Beyond those two, the Red Sox have a slew of internal candidates competing for rotation spots. Several pitchers emerged late in the 2025 season and showed enough promise to force themselves into the conversation for bigger roles. Payton Tolle and Connelly Early both delivered meaningful contributions when injuries opened the door, giving the front office confidence that they can handle major league workloads. Their emergence gives Boston flexibility and reduces pressure to re-sign veterans like Giolito.
In addition to those breakout arms, the Red Sox will welcome back multiple pitchers who missed time due to various injuries. Hunter Dobbins, Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval, and Richard Fitts are all expected to return to full health, providing even more depth. Each of them brings something different to the table—whether it’s Crawford’s durability, Sandoval’s swing-and-miss upside, or Fitts’ developing toolkit. With so many arms available, the Red Sox appear better positioned than they have in years to absorb injuries and experiment with different rotation configurations.
Despite that internal depth, Boston’s front office, led by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, is not planning to stand still. Breslow has repeatedly emphasized that the team intends to be aggressive this offseason in pursuit of another front-line starting pitcher—someone capable of slotting at the top of the rotation and elevating the club’s ceiling. Boston has already begun surveying both the free-agent landscape and the trade market.
On the trade front, two names generating buzz are Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan, both of whom could potentially be made available by their respective teams depending on how those clubs approach their roster construction and long-term planning.
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Skubal, who broke out as an ace-caliber pitcher, would command a significant return, while Ryan offers elite strike-throwing and years of team control. On the free-agent side, the class of available starters is headlined by big names such as Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez—each of whom could fill that frontline role Breslow is seeking.
In short, Giolito’s departure represents one chapter of Boston’s offseason, but not the whole story. The Red Sox elected not to risk paying him $22 million for a year of uncertain health and inconsistent performance, especially given their abundance of young, controllable pitching options already on the roster.
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Instead, they are positioning themselves to make a major move—either through a trade or free agency—to add a pitcher they view as more consistent and more likely to lead the rotation.
Giolito now enters the open market without restrictions, while Boston enters an offseason filled with opportunity and difficult decisions. The choice not to extend the qualifying offer underscores a shifting organizational priority: the Red Sox are ready to reshape their rotation and take a more aggressive approach toward building a contender.
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