The Red Sox have acquired hard-throwing left-handed starting pitcher Garrett Crochet in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, the teams announced Wednesday. The return for the White Sox is catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez.
Crochet, 25, is coming off a standout 2024 season for the White Sox – one in which he pitched as a member of a big-league rotation for the first time. In 2024, Crochet made 32 starts and pitched to a 3.58 ERA/115 ERA+ with an even more promising FIP of 2.69. Most impressively, he struck out 209 batters against 33 unintentional walks in 146 innings. While he didn't work a qualifying number of innings, Crochet led all regular starting pitchers with a strikeout rate of 35.1%. His fastball, which he threw more than half the time, averaged 97.2 mph – a sky-scraping figure for any pitcher, let alone a starter. Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Crochet as one of the leading trade candidates of the winter.
While Crochet's durability and capacity to handle a heavier workload are left to question, there's no doubting his ability to dominate, particularly at the swing-and-miss level. Crochet isn't slated for free agency until after the 2026 season, so he'll be going to the Red Sox with two remaining years of team control. He's arbitration-eligible for 2025, which will mean a substantial jump over the $800,000 salary he made in 2024.
The Red Sox have been reportedly aggressive throughout the offseason with big targets, but before this deal have whiffed. They were in on both Juan Soto and Max Fried until the end, for example, before losing out the Mets and Yankees, respectively.
Crochet now gives the Red Sox one left-hander and has the makings of the ace of the staff. If he throws like he's capable, the Boston rotation right now could look something like this:
- Garrett Crochet, LHP
- Tanner Houck, RHP
- Kutter Crawford, RHP
- Brayan Bello, RHP
- Either Cooper Criswell or Richard Fitts, RHP
Remember that Lucas Giolito will return at some point from Tommy John surgery and it's always possible they add another starter from outside the organization.
The Red Sox went 81-81, but should be aggressive in continuing to build around a talented core.
As for the White Sox, Crochet's exit is part of an ongoing deep rebuild on the South Side of Chicago – one that led to them losing a modern-record 121 games during the 2024 season.
Teel was the Red Sox's first-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Virginia. He rose to Triple-A last season, getting in 28 games of action there. In his 112 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year, he hit .288/.386/.433 with 23 doubles, 13 home runs, 78 RBI, 88 runs and 12 stolen bases. He played some outfield in college but has been a primary catcher in the pros.
Montgomery, 21, was the Red Sox's first-rounder this past year out of Texas A&M. He didn't get a taste of professional ball after the draft, as he broke his ankle during the NCAA tournament. As a junior in college, he hit .322/.454/.733 with 27 homers in 61 games.
Meidroth was a fourth-round pick in 2022. He played all season with Triple-A Worcester last season, seeing time at second base, third base and shortstop. In 122 games, the table-setter hit .293/.437/.401 with 13 stolen bases and 87 runs.
Gonzalez, 22, started 19 games and came in relief five times in Double-A last season, pitching to a 4.73 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with 92 strikeouts against 46 walks in 83 ⅔ innings.