White Sox Offloading Lucas Giolito, Should Yankees Go After Him?

The Chicago White Sox may be thinking about trading Lucas Giolito, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, given their decreasing odds of making the postseason. Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo speculates that the Yankees would be interested in hiring Giolito before the deadline.

The New York Yankees may need to strengthen their starting rotation in light of Nestor Cortés’s decline and Carlos Rodon’s injury.

White Sox Offloading Lucas Giolito, Should Yankees Go After Him?

The idea was that Carlos Rodon would be the No. 2 starter in the rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole when the New York Yankees signed him to a hefty six-year, $162 million contract in the winter.

However, things haven’t gone as expected.

Rodon has yet to throw a pitch for the Yankees because of a back problem that started as a forearm injury.

Should the Yankees thus seek another ace to team up with Cole?

Jim Bowden says:

“If this team doesn’t reverse course, drastic changes could be in order between now and the trade deadline. They could start by shopping Giolito, a one-time All-Star with three top 11 finishes in Cy Young Award voting, who is out of contract after this year.”

Giolito, who has 59.2 innings this year and a 3.62 ERA, would be a good acquisition for the Bombers. The Yankees could prefer him over more prone to injuries players like Frankie Montas or Rodon, for whom they have already invested large cash, given his track record of stable health throughout his career.

Giolito, who is only 28 years old, has a left-on-base percentage of 76.9%, a 33.1% ground ball rate, and is only allowing 1.21 home runs per nine innings. He also walks 1.81 opponents per nine innings while striking out 9.05.

Giolito uses a four-seam fastball, a slider, and a changeup as his main offerings. With a.238 batting average against, a 22.2% whiff rate, and a 22.1% put-away rate, his fastball averages 92.9 mph. Of his three pitches, his slider has been the most successful, with a.191 batting average, a 33.9% whiff rate, and a 28.4% use rate.

Giolito would just be a rental player, so the White Sox shouldn’t ask for a lot. Nevertheless, starting pitching is sometimes costly near the trade deadline.

 

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