Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been very clear about his priorities for improving the team since Boston ended its season with a loss to the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Series: pitching. The team needs to strengthen its starting rotation behind Cy Young Award finalist Garrett Crochet, and Breslow has said that he plans to add at least one new starting pitcher.

But on Thursday, Breslow decided not to add a pitcher to the starting rotation, but to let one go to free agency.

The Red Sox had a deadline of 5 p.m. ET to extend a qualifying offer to 31-year-old right-hander Lucas Giolito, who returned from elbow surgery this year to win 10 games against four losses for the Red Sox while posting a solid 3.41 ERA in 26 starts.

Under terms of the MLB c

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