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Jon Heyman of the\u00a0New York Post\u00a0has reported that the\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0\u201clike<\/em>\u201d free agent right-hander\u00a0Lucas Giolito, a 31-year-old veteran who spent last season with the\u00a0Boston Red Sox. While Giolito may not headline this winter\u2019s pitching class, his connection to new Yankees ace Max Fried makes the interest especially intriguing. The two aren\u2019t just peers\u2014they\u2019re old friends who anchored one of the most legendary high school rotations in baseball history.<\/p>\n Giolito and Fried\u2019s friendship dates back more than a decade, to their days at\u00a0Harvard-Westlake School\u00a0in Studio City, California, where they shared a rotation alongside\u00a0Detroit Tigers\u2018 starter Jack Flaherty. Under the guidance of\u00a0coach Ethan Katz\u2014who would later become an MLB pitching coach\u2014the trio developed into elite arms, bonding through competition, adversity, and mutual respect.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a special bond,\u201d Katz told\u00a0The Athletic in 2020. \u201cEverywhere I coach, everyone asks me questions about them.\u201d<\/p>\n That bond never faded. Giolito even attended Katz\u2019s wedding, and Fried has long credited Katz for \u201copening my eyes to preparation and what it takes\u201d to succeed as a professional pitcher. Both players endured Tommy John surgery early in their careers, leaned on each other through their recovery years, and eventually fulfilled the promise they showed as teenagers\u2014Fried becoming a Cy Young winner, and Giolito throwing a\u00a0no-hitter for the White Sox\u00a0in 2020.<\/p>\n Now, more than ten years later, a reunion in pinstripes could bring their journey full circle.<\/p>\n According to Heyman, the Yankees are monitoring Giolito\u2019s market closely after Boston\u00a0declined to extend him a $22 million qualifying offer. That decision means New York wouldn\u2019t need to forfeit draft-pick compensation to sign him\u2014an important factor for a team already balancing luxury-tax considerations after adding Fried.<\/p>\n Giolito posted a 3.41 ERA with 121 strikeouts in\u00a0145 innings for Boston in 2025, stabilizing a middle-of-the-rotation that desperately needed consistency. His underlying numbers\u2014including a 4.17 FIP and 1.18 WHIP\u2014suggest he\u2019s more of a reliable No. 3 or No. 4 starter than a frontline ace. But his mix of durability, competitiveness, and command fits perfectly with what the Yankees need behind Fried, Carlos Rod\u00f3n, and Luis Gil.<\/p>\n The right-hander\u2019s arsenal remains largely intact from his\u00a0White Sox\u00a0days: a four-seam fastball he throws nearly 50% of the time, a fading changeup, and a biting slider. Though the fastball has lost a tick of velocity since his 2024 elbow surgery, his vertical movement and sequencing continue to generate weak contact.<\/p>\n For the Yankees, Giolito represents a rare blend of affordability and familiarity.\u00a0Spotrac\u00a0projects his market value at roughly three years, $61 million, while\u00a0MLB Trade Rumors\u00a0predicts a shorter two-year, $32 million deal. Either price could be reasonable for a franchise seeking a mid-rotation stabilizer who already shares chemistry with their new ace.<\/p>\n Signing Giolito wouldn\u2019t just make baseball sense\u2014it would make narrative sense. Reuniting with Fried would rekindle one of the sport\u2019s most remarkable prep baseball stories, one that began on the sun-soaked fields of Southern California and could now continue under the lights of Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n After years of facing each other from opposite dugouts, Fried and Giolito could finally share the same mound again\u2014only this time, chasing a World Series title together.<\/p>\n When a legend like Marv Levy \u2014 the man who once led the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances \u2014 speaks at the age of 100, every word carries the weight of history. The morning after the Bills\u2019 crushing 13\u201330 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Levy, now living quietly in Chicago, sent a message that shook the entire Bills Mafia: a warning to the franchise he once built into greatness.<\/p>\n According to sources close to the Hall of Famer, Levy watched the game in full and was visibly disappointed with head coach Sean McDermott\u2019s decisions. He was particularly concerned about Josh Allen, who appeared both physically worn down and mentally drained, yet was still forced to play all four quarters. The decision not to send Allen for medical evaluation and to keep him on the field, Levy reportedly said, was \u201cunforgivable\u201d \u2014 a sign that the coaching staff had lost perspective.<\/p>\n In a short audio message that quickly went viral, Marv Levy spoke with striking clarity and emotion:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve seen generations of players and coaches come and go in Buffalo, but I\u2019ve never seen a great team wasted like this. When a leader is no longer wise enough to protect his star, it\u2019s time for change. Josh Allen deserves a mentor who truly understands him. Continuing like this will only waste his talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n