MESA, Ariz. _ Lucas Giolito didn't try to sugarcoat things Friday when asked if the matchup against the Cubs at Sloan Park was just another spring training game.
After making his 2020 debut in a 6-3 win, Giolito conceded that the crosstown rivalry _ and a record crowd of 16,095, the largest in Cactus League history _ gave him an adrenaline boost.
"I always look forward to it," he said. "It's fun. This environment is the closest you're going to get to a big league game in spring training. The place was packed. ... I went out there with a little bit of that adrenaline, but we did a good job to control it, and I'm looking forward to doing the real thing, too, during the real season."
The real games obviously will be much more intense than Friday's matchup, but that didn't spoil things for Sox fans who made the trip to the Valley of the Sun.
It was a near-perfect day with temperatures in the 80s, the return of Giolito, the debut of Yasmani Grandal, a win over the Cubs and a five-year, $70 million extension for Yoan Moncada that solidifies a core growing stronger every year.
It was almost deja vu for Sox general manager Rick Hahn, who announced a five-year, $32.7 million extension for Chris Sale before a Cubs-Sox game at HoHoKam Park on March 7, 2013. On that day Hahn said he was "thrilled" to have "one of the best young starters in the league in a White Sox uniform for potentially the next seven years."
Sale wound up pitching only four more seasons for the Sox before being sent to the Red Sox in a trade that netted Moncada and Michael Kopech, the deal that kick-started the rebuild.
Just as former Indians general manager John Hart locked up young stars Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga in the 1990s, Hahn is putting all his chips on the table and betting Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Tim Anderson and Aaron Bummer will be solid contributors for contending teams for years to come.
Hahn stressed the importance of "having players like Moncada, Jimenez, Robert under control for at least six years, not to mention Anderson and Bummer and other starters that are still here, and not even mentioning guys like (Nick) Madrigal and (Andrew) Vaughn, who are going to provide us with at least six years of control.
"You can start seeing what the better part of this decade is going to look like for this club, and we're excited about it."
Giolito is part of that core, but whether he signs a team-friendly extension is a question he's not ready to address.
"It's not something I'm thinking about," he said. "For me, I'm more like present moment _ 'What can I do this day to improve and become a better player?'
"All that stuff _ the money, the contracts _ that will all fall into place if I keep focusing on what makes me successful."
Whether the mythical kingdom of "SoxTown" can become a reality in the next decade also is unknown, but there's no doubt the Sox have opened eyes all around baseball, including on the North Side.
"I felt like last year they didn't quite play to where they should've," Cubs pitcher Jon Lester said. "Their lineup was very, very talented. They had a lot of different dynamics in there. Now you've got Giolito coming out like he's the dude now. He's the No. 1 guy.
"And you get another guy behind him, and it just makes that rotation a little bit deeper. It's just like football _ defense wins you championships, good starting pitching wins you championships.
"You can bash a bunch of runs, but if you don't stop them, you're still going to lose. But yeah, I like where they're at. It's a good lineup. ... "They're right there. Now it's just a matter of playing the 162 (games) and seeing where they're at at the end. That division is definitely for the taking for them."
Lester said the Sox's strategy of locking up so many young players is good for the organization and the players, even if some of the contracts are considered team-friendly deals.
"Any time you can make your first fortune, it's always a good thing," Lester said. "It's good for the game. I don't think there are any negatives."
Lester then presumed the next question was 'So, what about the Cubs?'
"Why haven't we signed our guys?" he said, asking the question himself. "We have guys that are just betting on themselves, and once you reach a certain point, it's like, 'Why not test free agency and see?' It doesn't mean you can't come back here.
"It's a cool process and it's a frustrating process at the same time. We wait to get that that leverage, and when you do, sometimes it's good to wait."
Perhaps Giolito, who will make $627,000 this season and won't be a free agent until after 2023, will be the one to bet on himself.
But who knows? A lot can happen in four years.
Just ask Chris Sale.
