Despite small gap in arbitration filings, 'frustrated' Giolito and White Sox fail to make a deal

SURPRISE, Ariz. - If there's a more upbeat player in major-league baseball than Lucas Giolito, good luck with the search.

The standout starting pitcher always strives to find the good in any situation, so the White Sox's front office should be concerned about the bad vibes coming off Giolito Wednesday morning at Camelback Ranch.

Exchanging salary arbitration numbers, Giolito filed at $7.5 million for the upcoming season while the Sox came in at $7.3 million.

Giolito said earlier negotiations actually got the difference down to $50,000, but no deal was reached and it looks like an arbitration hearing is coming down the road.

"Honestly, I love this team, you guys know how I feel about this team," Giolito told reporters Wednesday morning. "For it to come down to a 50K difference prior to the filing, it's like, 'Come on.' It's an upsetting part of the process. It's why a lot of us don't enjoy the business side of the process. You want to enjoy the fun stuff, but I guess that's just part of the process."

White Sox fans took to social media to support Giolito and slice up management over the failure to agree to an arbitration number.

"I love White Sox fans and I appreciated all the love from those guys," Giolito said. "It's just very unfortunate, disheartening."

Well aware of the public resentment over the Giolito arbitration flare-up, general manager Rick Hahn appeared outside of the press box during Wednesday afternoon's Sox-Rangers Cactus League game, and said he talked to Giolito that morning.

"We've got a long history going back to 2016 when we first acquired him," Hahn said. "We've been through a lot together. I certainly understand being frustrated, we're all frustrated. That's the nature of negotiations of the times. It was a good talk today and I don't foresee any lingering or long-term issues between the club and Lucas going forward."

Hahn said an arbitration hearing with Giolito would likely happen between April and July, and he is hopeful the two sides can reach an agreement instead of sitting down in a meeting room.

"Absolutely," the GM said.

Over the last 20-plus years, the White Sox have had arbitration hearings with only two players: Avisail Garcia and Yolmer Sanchez.

"It shows that, obviously, we're motivated to get something done with any of our players and avoid a hearing," Hahn said. "As for perception that this could potentially cause a longer-term issue between us and Lucas, I don't view that as the case. We have a long and successful history with Lucas and a deep relationship with him.

"Certainly don't think this is going to have, regardless of any result, any negative impact on that relationship going forward."

Still, Giolito was not happy Wednesday morning.

"Frustrating," he said. "You want to get something fair done and it's unfortunate this is the spot we're in today."

Giolito, the White Sox's player representative during the 99-day lockout, has always been hopeful about getting a contract extension before hitting free agency after next season.

If he has to go to an arbitration hearing over a relative pittance, getting a long-term deal done would seem much more difficult.

"Like I've always said about extensions, I absolutely love this team," said Giolito, who has over 200 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons. "For me, the more I play the more I understand my value as a player and I just want fair."