Last week, Iexplored a pair of free agent starting pitchers that could be potential fitsfor the Colorado Rockies rotation in 2026. Now that the market is wide open and the clock is ticking until Doomsday (the lockout, not “The Avengers” movie), we are in a “wait and see” period until the Rockies start making moves. The GM meetings started on Monday, which is usually viewed as the true start of the offseason activity.
Once again, I’m putting on my GM hat and trying to pinpoint another pair of free
agents the Rockies could target. This time I’m looking at a pair of pitchers that could be enticing because of connections to new pitching coach Ethan Katz.
Erick Fedde
Back in 2014, the Washington Nationals selected Erik Fedde with the 18th overall pick. Three years later, he made his debut but struggled through parts of six seasons with the Nationals to the tune of a 5.41 ERA in 102 games. Following the 2022 season, Fedde headed to Korea for an opportunity in the KBO.
At the age of 30, he dominated, going 20- 6 with a 2.00 ERA across 180.3 innings for the NC Dinos in 2023. He tallied 209 strikeouts, walked just 35 batters, and received the Choi Dong-won Award, the KBO equivalent of the Cy Young. By leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, Fedde became the fourth pitcher — and the first foreign starter — to earn the pitching Triple Crown in the KBO.
That performance caught the eye of the Chicago White Sox, and they signed him to a two-year, $15 million deal. Under Katz and the other pitching coaches, Fedde continued his dominance in 2024 with the White Sox. In 121.2 innings, he posted a 3.11 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate alongside a 44.7% groundball rate. He was then traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he put up a 3.72 ERA across 10 games to finish the season.
His Cardinals tenure was not as successful in 2025 as he went 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA over 20 starts and was traded to the Atlanta Braves after being designated for assignment. That time with the Braves was short-lived, however, as he posted an 8.10 ERA over 23.1 innings with an equal number (13) of walks and strikeouts over his five appearances. He was released and then found a spot with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he worked out of the bullpen and found a little more success working out of the bullpen. In 16 innings over seven games, he posted a 3.38 ERA in seven games.
Fedde returned to the White Sox this past season, signing a $1.5 million deal and had a return to success with a 3.83 ERA over 144 innings in a bit of a swing-man role while improving his walk and strikeout rates from the previous year.
He primarily works off a four-pitch mix that is headlined by a sweeper, a pitch he adopted while in the KBO. It continues to be his best offering and helps set up his sinker and cutter usage. The main goal for Fedde is to induce weak contact and get ground balls, something that often fits the Rockies.
Additionally, Fedde will eat innings whether it be as a starter every five days or following an opener. As a rebuilding team, the best thing the Rockies can look for is length out of starters, and Fedde was one of four pitchers to toss at least 140 innings for the White Sox last season.
He also isn’t projected to cost too much. Spotrac projects his market value around $12 million for a two-year deal as he enters his age 34 season. Could Katz help convince the club and Fedde to unite and lay a groundwork of familiarity? After all, Katz has been brought in because of his ability to develop relationships with his players, and that might be enough to persuade some to come to Colorado.
Lucas Giolito
While Fedde seems like a reasonable pickup if it came to fruition, the idea of adding someone like Lucas Giolito seems a bit murkier despite the intrigue.
A first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2012, Giolito was part of a pitching trio sent to the Chicago White Sox in 2016 for outfielder Adam Eaton. After a solid, albeit brief, showing in 2017 and a rough 2018, Giolito came into his own in 2019 putting up an All-Star season and finishing sixth in Cy Young voting. He followed up with a seventh-place finish for the award in 2020.
Heading into the 2021 season, the White Sox needed a new pitching coach, and Giolito ended up contacting the front office to recommend Katz for the job. Giolito has known Katz since he was 15 years old when Katz was coaching Giolito at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles.The connection seemed to pay off as Giolito put up another excellent seaon in 2021, finishing 11th in Cy Young voting while posting a 3.53 ERA over 31 starts with 201 strikeouts.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to maintain those highs of his career, but he managed to be a reliable starter in 2022 and 2023 before he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in late July of that season, partly because the White Sox had never been able to work out an extension. The Angels collapsed in August, and Giolito found no success with a 6.89 ERA over six starts and was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Guardians. While in Cleveland, he struggled to a 7.04 ERA over six starts to close out the season.
Giolitio signed a two-year bridge deal with the Boston Red Sox after the 2023 season, a deal worth $38.5 million but included a player opt-out for the 2025 season. Unfortunately for the Red Sox and Giolito, he suffered a UCL injury in spring training and missed the entire season after undergoing an internal brace repair. After recovering, he exercised his option and put forth a quality 2025 for the Red Sox, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA over 145 innings alongside 121 strikeouts and 56 walks.
Some bouts of injury hampered him toward the end of the season, and Giolitio found himself on the market once again. A combination of injury concerns and perhaps too high an asking price left him on the market until he signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the San Diego Padres. After some ramp-up time in the minors, Giolitio managed just a 5.16 ERA over 29.2 innings with the Padres before a bout of right elbow inflammation sent him to the injured list for the rest of the season.
There are legitimate concerns about health and effectiveness as a starter at this point in his career, but is Giolitio worth the low-risk gamble to reunit with his high school pitching coach? Walks were an issue for him in 2026, but historically he’s been about league average in that department. The strikeout rate has also declined since 2023.
Giolitio offers a fairly standard four-pitch mix and is more prone to being a flyball pitcher, which is another risk. However, the fact that he could be signed on a cheap one-year deal, perhaps even a minor-league contract, could be an opportunity for the Rockies to see if they can go about “fixing” an ailing pitcher, kind of like they did with Jordan Romano this season.
Reunions?
When looking for pitching to come to Colorado, the Rockies have to utilize the connections of the pitching coaches to entice players. Ethan Katz has his work cut out for him, and helping recruit players he is familiar with could be a helpful way to start things off. Fedde and Giolitio would be budget options but could be vital depth pieces for the rotation.
The Rockies have a lot of options available and need to cast a wide net to bring in arms ready and willing to embrace the challenge of Coors Field and look for ways to improve.
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