Red Sox Pitcher Joins Top Free Agent For Game 1 Of Yankees-Dodgers World Series

Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito wasn’t able to contribute to the club in 2024 due to a season-ending elbow injury suffered during spring training, but that doesn’t mean the eight-year veteran can’t contribute off the field.

Giolito sat in attendance at Dodger Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees… alongside free-agent southpaw pitcher Max Fried. The two former high school teammates cheered on fellow Harvard-Westlake product Jack Flaherty, who took the mound for the Dodgers. Speculation could lead one to think that Giolito was getting ahead of the game in luring Fried to the Red Sox before the MLB offseason ramps up and front offices start getting to work.

Then again, a harmless boys’ night out to support a long-time buddy is also a possibility.

Fried, 30, finished his second career All-Star campaign with the Atlanta Braves by going 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA across 29 appearances (174 1/3 innings) — not too shabby. Boston, coming off a third consecutive postseason whiff and the fifth in the past seven seasons, is due to consider upgrades in all areas. Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford were the most reliable arms in Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s rotation last season, but it’ll take more if Boston intends to re-establish itself as a legitimate championship contender in the American League come 2025.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has already vocalized Boston’s willingness to explore all avenues in the upcoming months to get the franchise back on track — which includes examining the free agency market.

“We can point to some guys who have come up throughout this season and impacted our club in a really positive way whether that’s (Luis) Guerrero or (Richard) Fitts or (Quinn) Priester,” Breslow said during Boston’s end-of-season press conference last month, per team-provided video. “(Justin) Slaten was a guy who wasn’t with the organization last year at this time and say, you know, we’re on the right track but we’ve got plenty of work to do.”