Letting Garrett Crochet test his luck as a starter may have changed the trajectory of the White Sox organization.
According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe the Red Sox were engaged in trade talks for Crochet before the start of the 2024 season. At the time they were interested in adding him as a reliever given his career 2.71 ERA in 73 innings out of the White Sox bullpen. It would have been very easy to trade Crochet at this moment. The White Sox were fresh off a 100-loss season in which Crochet was not much of a factor.
However, Crochet asked the front office if he could convert to a starter after missing the entire 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery and then being limited to just 12.2 innings in 2023 due to injury. The White Sox obliged, naming the 25-year-old southpaw as their Opening Day starter.
Crochet thrived in his new role and quickly established himself as one of the best left-handers in baseball. Despite being on an innings restriction he ranked fourth in the AL with 209 strikeouts and posted a 3.58 ERA en route to the Comeback Player of the Year Award and an All-Star nod. His 64 strikeouts over his first nine starts surpassed Chris Sale’s franchise record of 60 set in 2012.
With two years of team control, the Red Sox remained interested in him at the trade deadline. However, the asking price suddenly increased. Trade talks dragged into the offseason after the White Sox failed to find a suitable trade partner before the deadline.
Despite speculation that current major leaguers Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu could be a part of the deal, Speier reports that the White Sox did not bring up their names once in trade talks. Instead, the White Sox were focused on the Red Sox “big four” prospects which consisted of Roman Anothony, Kristain Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel.
On December 11 the two teams pulled the trigger on a trade that netted the White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez.
The trade now gives the White Sox six top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. General manager Chris Getz’s predecessor Rick Hahn has gone down this road before, trading future Hall of Famer Chris Sale to the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Victor Diaz. At the time Moncada was considered one of the top prospects in baseball while Kopech was ranked as the second-highest prospect in the Red Sox’s organization.
While trading Crochet is a gamble, Getz felt his timeline did not match the White Sox’s path to contention. Had Getz dealt him after the 2023 season when his value was much lower, the outlook on the White Sox’s future would be vastly different.
