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Cubs, Padres Showing Interest in Lucas Giolito
The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres are among two of the teams eyeing free-agent right-hander Lucas Giolito early in the 2026 season, league sources told The Athletic. The Cubs' pitching depth is already decimated by injuries, with left-hander Matthew Boyd (biceps) on the injured list and right-hander Cade Horton (elbow) out for the entire season. High-leverage relievers Phil Maton (knee) and Hunter Harvey (triceps) are also sidelined. The Padres' interest in Giolito could be complicated by the final stages of the team's ongoing sale process. However, the Padres might have more urgency to acquire a player like Giolito after right-hander Nick Pivetta was forced to leave his last start with right-elbow stiffness. The Cubs project Giolito, 31, as more of a back-of-the-rotation starter, and it's unclear exactly when he'd be ready to pitch in a major-league game after missing all of spring training and part of April. The former first-rounder said recently that he's throwing around 75 pitches in his bullpen sessions. He went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA over 26 starts for Boston last year and declined a $19 million mutual option after last season to become a free agent. He's been met with an extremely cold market.
Source: The Athletic - Patrick Mooney, Kein Rosenthal, Dennis Lin, and Sahadev Sharma
Source: The Athletic - Patrick Mooney, Kein Rosenthal, Dennis Lin, and Sahadev Sharma
