Garrett Crochet in mix, Red Sox still in the hunt for additional starting pitching
The Red Sox made a massive splash adding left-handed starting pitcher Garrett Crochet in a five-player trade with the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon.
With Crochet in the mix, the Red Sox finally have a frontline starter to lead their rotation heading into 2025. The southpaw gives the Red Sox a lefty atop the rotation that will also feature Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, Kutter Crawford, and Cooper Criswell.
Boston has additional depth options behind those starters in Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, and Michael Fulmer, who is going to be stretched out as a starter this winter.
Crochet has been a target of the Red Sox throughout the offseason. The 25-year-old offers a dominant fastball that generates swings and misses, something Boston hasn’t had in a long time. In 32 starts last season, Crochet posted a 3.58 ERA, striking out 209 batters in 146 innings.
“We feel like we got a legitimate number one starter in Garrett, left-handed, a ton of swing and miss, and massive strikeouts, and we feel like the best is still in front of him,” Breslow said to reporters following the trade. “So we're excited about what he brings. And obviously, we needed to trade really good players in order to be able to do this.
“But that's the cost right now, and we're very much focused on what we were able to get."
Crochet has two years of team control remaining and seems like a candidate to get an extension with the team.
With Crochet in the fold, Boston is still looking to add rotation depth, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said to reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Sox have been linked to Corbin Burnes, Walker Buehler, Jack Flaherty, and Nick Pivetta in the recent days. In addition to the free agents, the Red Sox held discussions with the Mariners for one of their starters. The Boston Globe's Alex Speier reported the Red Sox discussed trading Triston Casas, but talks fell apart.
Boston needs to add more depth to their pitching staff that ranked fourth with a 4.04 ERA last season.
Boston reached into their deep farm system to land Crochet but still needs to reach into their wallets to add to their 26-man roster. Burnes and Crochet would be two massive acquisitions and would round out their rotation nicely to do battle in the American League East. If Crochet follows up his 2024 season with a strong 2025, the Red Sox have another legit lefty thanks to the White Sox.
