The White Sox made several trades at the deadline this year. Garrett Crochet was not one of them. Despite being one of the most talked about trade possibilities for weeks leading up to the deadline, the White Sox star left-hander ended up going nowhere. Now that Crochet will be in the fold on the south side for at least the rest of the season, how the organization handles him over the next few months is vitally important.
Crochet’s Short Term Situation
Managing Crochet’s workload is the number one priority in the short term. His 114.1 innings pitched so far this season are by far the most he has ever had in a professional season. Crochet has thrown more innings this year than the previous three seasons combined. As a result, the White Sox have gradually started to wind down his workload. While there are seemingly no plans to shut him down entirely, Crochet has only pitched 13 MLB innings since July 1st. Given how bad the White Sox are, there is no need to push him much more than they already have. His health is the most critical factor in this equation.
Potential Trade This Winter
Ensuring Crochet’s health is especially important because he could still get traded in the future. He will still have two years of cheap team control remaining this offseason, so his value will still be sky-high assuming he enters this winter healthy. He has proven he can be one of MLB’s best starting pitchers. Crochet’s circumstances are not entirely dissimilar to Dylan Cease’s at this time last year. While Cease was much more established and had a much longer track record of durability and performance, he also had two years of affordable team control remaining entering last offseason. The White Sox ended up trading him before Opening Day. Crochet could be on the same trajectory.
More Trade Suitors This Offseason
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also made a good point regarding Crochet’s situation. He explained that if the White Sox wait until the offseason to trade Crochet, they will have a bigger pool of prospect talent to choose from in a hypothetical deal. More teams will be interested in him as they look forward to competing in 2025, and the recent group of 2024 draftees will be trade-eligible by that point. He also cited the Corbin Burnes trade from last year as evidence that teams are more willing to trade MLB-ready hitters in the offseason than at that deadline. That could be a factor for a White Sox team that will undoubtedly target bats in the return for Crochet.
Contract Extension Possibility
The other possibility in this scenario is that the White Sox will give Crochet a contract extension and build around him for years to come. However, that seems unlikely for multiple reasons. Crochet’s track record is minimal, and the White Sox have no history of giving massive contract extensions to pitchers. It is unclear what exactly Crochet is looking for money wise, but it is safe to say he is looking for a big payday. While one cannot entirely discount the possibility of him staying in Chicago long term, it seems unlikely.
Final Word
Almost nothing has gone right for the 2024 White Sox. It is becoming increasingly more likely by the day that they will be the worst team in modern baseball history. But one thing you can say for sure is that this season has been a massive success for Garrett Crochet individually. He has exceeded all expectations had for him and deserves credit for the season he has had. Whether he stays in Chicago at the front of the rotation or gets traded for a haul, Crochet’s impact on the White Sox organization cannot be understated.
Different perspective that Crochet’s value may be higher in the offseason. That gave me hope for a sec until I considered the return on deadline trades with the same guy in charge.
Both sad and disgusting.