This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Lucas Giolito brought back memories over each of the last two weekends of a still highly competitive but more laid-back time in his baseball career by reuniting with Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty and Braves starter Max Fried, his good friends and former high school teammates in California.

Giolito had dinner with Flaherty and Ethan Katz, the White Sox pitching coach and the trio’s high school pitching coach, in Chicago. He also had a chance to see Fried’s house near Atlanta for the first time last weekend.

Over the next two weeks, Giolito will become more closely reacquainted with the business side of Major League Baseball.

The White Sox right-hander is scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Mets. But as the most consistent starting pitcher on an underachieving 40-55 squad, as one of the most consistent starters in the game and as a free agent after the ’23 season, Giolito is a prime candidate to be moved before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

I asked Giolito a couple of questions about this trade topic during our interview in Atlanta. Giolito couldn’t say much on this uncertain matter, but he answered every question as he’s done every time asked since arriving in Chicago.

And Giolito’s plan was the same presented following his start vs. the Cardinals on July 9 at Guaranteed Rate Field: Control what he can control.

“Yep. That’s it. Day by day. Day by day,” Giolito told me on Friday. “I’m going out to throw a bullpen right now and that’s all I’m focused on.”

Featuring a 6-5 record with a 3.45 ERA in 19 starts and 117 strikeouts in 112 1/3 innings this season, Giolito also has been a consummate representative of the White Sox organization. With all of that in mind, I asked Giolito if he expected the front office to talk with him if a trade was imminent.

“From what I’ve heard, generally, it happens very fast,” Giolito said. “So, I really don’t know. Again, it’s not something I’m going to concern myself with. Whatever happens, happens.”

Productive players getting moved, especially with low contractual control, is a familiar story for a team in the White Sox situation. They enter Tuesday’s action eight games out of first but have only stayed on the outskirts of playoff contention due to the underwhelming American League Central.

Pitching in the Majors was something Giolito, Flaherty and Fried talked about when they were growing up together at Harvard-Westlake School. They actually talked about pitching in the same big league rotation.

“Of course, we were all hoping we’d be on the same team, but it’s hard to make that happen in the business of baseball,” Giolito said. “At this point, we are all professionals. We can all handle our business and make a bunch of new friends and teammates along the way.

“Now the way the schedule is, we are always going to be able to meet at least once no matter where we are playing. It’s always great to see them. It helps break up the monotony and we get to take a second to appreciate how far we’ve come.”