Red Sox Land Game-Changing Ace in Blockbuster Deal with White Sox
After coming off a breakout season for the Chicago White Sox, Garrett Crochet will now pitch for the Boston Red Sox in 2025. In return, the White Sox are receiving Boston’s fourth overall prospect, catcher Kyle Teel, fifth overall prospect, outfielder Braden Montgomery, 11th overall prospect, infielder Chase Meidroth; and 14th overall prospect, right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez. Crochet was originally a popular trade target ahead of the July 30th Trade Deadline during the 2024 season. He became a full-time starter last season after spending his entire MLB career up to that point as a reliever. He was also out for 13 months due to Tommy John surgery in April 2022.
Overall, Crochet was one of the few exciting players on a White Sox team that broke the modern-era MLB record with 121 losses on the season. He was their only All-Star representative and finished fourth among all American League pitchers with 209 strikeouts in just 146 innings. Before the 2024 season, he pitched a total of 73 innings in 72 relief appearances from 2020 to 2023. This move from the White Sox was much anticipated because of the trade value that Crochet brought after the season was over. Some could say this was a risky move from the Red Sox because of Crochet’s limited track record as a starter, but his success in the first four months says that there’s a lot of upside to it. He’s only 25 years old, and he was drafted with the 11th overall pick by the White Sox four years ago.
Crochet has the ability to be the number one starter for this Red Sox team if he can retain what he had at the start of the 2024 season, and he’ll have a very solid defense behind him. One of the issues the Red Sox had this past season was a lack of rotation depth, so this trade should really help them. Starting pitcher Tanner Houck had a breakout year in 2024, posting a 3.12 ERA in 178.2 innings, but he was their only pitcher who made at least five starts to post a sub 4.00 ERA. Also, having a 5.32 ERA before the All-Star Break, starting pitcher Brayan Bello got better after a slow start, posting a 3.47 ERA after the All-Star Break. The Red Sox need to put in a lot of work if they want to become a contender in the AL East in 2025, so they’re hoping Garrett Crochet gives them that push they need.
