There's a crystal clear reason why the Padres outbid the Cubs for Lucas Giolito

The Chicago Cubs lost on Lucas Giolito earlier this week when the veteran starting pitcher inked a one-year deal worth $3 million. Giolito's contract with the Padres was prorated for $3 million and included a $1.5 million mutual option. In layman's terms, San Diego will fork over $1.5 million to Giolito now and another $1.5 million at the start of the offseason. It felt like a deal the Cubs could have easily topped, but it seems San Diego was more motivated.

Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs had an offer on the table for Giolito but the Padres offered more money.

It was odd timing from Heyman. A day after it was reported that Giolito was headed to the Padres, the MLB insider felt it was important that the world knew the Cubs were outbid. Naturally, upon seeing this news from Heyman, the reaction from Cubs fans is to make jokes about Tom Ricketts and spending.

Injuries aside, the Cubs didn't need Lucas Giolito

When the Cubs' interest in Giolito was first reported, it seemed to be taken with some degree of caution. It was clear that the Cubs felt that Giolito could be an option at the backend of the starting rotation, but for where he is in his career, he may not have been a clear upgrade over Colin Rea or Javier Assad.

Assad's ERA this season is inflated due to a nine-run outing against the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this month, but he's allowed no more than one run across his other three starts this season. Rea, meanwhile, has an ERA of 3.00 in 24 innings pitched and is striking out over 20% of the hitters he is facing this season.

What the Cubs were already getting from Rea and Assad is what they would have been hoping to get from Giolito. Adding in the reality that Giolito will likely need a ramp-up assignment in the minors, and that likely took the urgency away from the Cubs in matching the deal offered by the Padres. Not to mention, Matthew Boyd had already returned to the Cubs' rotation by the time Giolito made his decision.

Sure, technically, the Padres did outbid for Giolito. However, the context is that the Cubs likely weren't overly motivated to make sure they were the top bidder for the former Chicago White Sox starting pitcher.

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