The Boston Red Sox have traded for Chicago White Sox left-handed pitcher Garret Crochet in exchange for four of their top fifteen prospects, Catcher Kyle Teel (4), Outfielder Braden Montgomery (5), Infielder Chase Meidroth (11), and Right Hander Wikelman Gonzalez (14) were sent to the White Sox in return. After falling short of Juan Soto, Blake Snell, and Max Freid, the Red Sox make their first big move of the offseason after the fanbase was calling for the ownerships head the last few nights.
During a historically dreadful season for the Chicago White Sox their lone bright spot on the year was starting pitcher Garrett Crochet. Behind a White Sox defense that ranked 24th in the league in total defense and last in defensive runs saved. In his first year as a starter Crochet dominated all competition and he finished with 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP while only walking 33 batters. His K rate of 35.1% was fifth all time and the third highest by a left hander pitcher. Crochet’s fastball comes in at about 97 with a filthy slider to add to that, a lot of people have compared him to Chris Sale, which will happen even more now that he also was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox.
This was a move Boston has desperately needed for years; the Red Sox have always had a great offense but haven’t had the pitching to make a serious push in years. Crochet adds a nice balance to a rotation filled with righties. He joins tanner Houck, Brayn Bello, Lucas Giolitto, and Kutter Crawford, and Boston’s ERA was fourth in the AL East last season, needless to say but the Red Sox desperately needed this. Boston was able to make this trade without giving any of their other trade candidates such as Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida and Kutter Crawford so they can package them and other prospects for another trade possibly. Not to mention they were able to keep their top three prospects, Roman Anthony, Marcel Mayer, and Kristain Campbell, all of whom are in the top ten ranked prospects not just for the Red Sox system but for all of Baseball.
The White Sox looked to improve their farm system, and they did so the headline of this deal, Kyle Teel, comes from a rare breed of lefty catchers with power, he is regarded as big league ready after he hit .288 in the minors last year. Braden Montgomery is a beast; he fell in the draft in 2023 after breaking his ankle earlier in the year, but he was projected to in the top 3 prior to his injury, he is a switch-hitting power hitter with a cannon of an arm.
Boston’s losses will be strong, but they have a plethora of outfielders for the future of their team and the emergence of Connor Wong made it clear that Teel could be moved. This will not be the last of the moves for the Red Sox as they look to return to power in the MLB, watch for the in news regarding a possible Luis Castillo trade, Alex Bregman, a Nolan Arenado Trade, and f course the best pitcher on the market, Corbin Burnes.
