Trading Sox: Boston acquires lefty Garrett Crochet in a 5-player deal with Chicago
The Red Sox and White Sox have agreed to a blockbuster five-player trade that will send left-handed starter Garrett Crochet to Boston.
Boston will trade top catching prospect Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez to the White Sox, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal was first reported by Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe.
Crochet is one of the most promising young pitchers in all of baseball. The 25-year-old southpaw has a career ERA of 3.29 with an off-the-charts K rate. Crochet sits in the 98th percentile at 35.1%, according to Baseball Savant. Last season, in 146 innings, Crochet recorded 209 strikeouts.
With all the promise and upside surrounding Crochet, he was going to cost a hefty price in any trade. Former first-rounders Teel and Montgomery were ranked atop the Red Sox farm system, ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, by Sox Prospects.
Teel looked to have a clear path to the majors and potentially platoon with Connor Wong at the big league level. Teel finished in Triple-A last season after starting the season with Double-A Portland. He has more development left on the defensive side of his game. Offensively, between Portland and Worcester, he hit .288 with 13 home runs in just over 100 games.
Montgomery has yet to debut in the minor leagues. The 21-year-old switch-hitting outfielder hit .322/.454/.733 with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs in his final and only year at Texas A&M.
SoxProspects ranked infielder Chase Meidroth No. 8 on their list. Meidroth spent all of last season in Triple-A. He slashed .293/.437/.400 and he will be Rule 5 draft eligible next offseason. He is a strong candidate to make the White Sox 26-man roster out of camp. With Boston having both Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell as their top infield prospects, it made the big league path for Meidroth nearly impossible.
Gonzalez is the only name traded that was already on the 40-man roster. With Double-A Portland last season, he made 24 appearances (19 starts) in a swingman-type role. Despite a 4.73 ERA, he showed swing-and-miss ability with 92 strikeouts in 83 innings of work. He features a curveball, changeup, and a cutter.
As for the Red Sox, they have other avenues they could explore to continue to improve their roster. They have money to spend and other young players on their current roster and in their farm system they could trade as the offseason rolls on.
A logical first order of business should be to extend Crochet. He is arbitration eligible for the next two seasons before becoming a free agent at age 28. Two successful seasons could line him up for a hefty payday on the open market, and the Red Sox would be smart to get a deal done prior to his value skyrocketing.
The Red Sox needed a lefty and needed a young arm with ace potential. Crochet checks both those boxes as they are finally able to push a deal across the finish line.
