White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochette continues to be one of the most intriguing names as the deadline approaches. With just over 24 hours left until the deadline, it’s unclear if he’ll be traded, but a number of teams have expressed interest. He’s already been linked to the Dodgers, Phillies and Padres in varying degrees, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post added Atlanta to the list today. Travis Sawczyk of The Score reported last week that the White Sox don’t want to trade Crochette within their division, so it seems unlikely he’ll be moved to another AL Central team.
Crochette is a fairly unconventional trade candidate given his unconventional resume: He was promoted quickly to the majors in 2020 when he was just 21. The following year, the Red Sox put him in relief and he pitched pretty well before having Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
That put him in a strange position entering 2024. He’d pitched just 73 major league innings due to missed time and only another 12 1/3 innings in the minor leagues as part of his rehab while returning from surgery last year. But he’d accumulated service time while on the disabled list, making him arbitration-eligible in 2023 with three service years. Because he’d barely pitched, his salary only increased to $800,000, just above the league minimum.
The Red Sox tapped him as a starter in 2024, and the results have far exceeded any reasonable expectations. The left-hander has pitched 114 1/3 innings, already more than he had over the previous four years combined. He has allowed just 3.23 earned runs per nine innings, struck out 34.6% of the batters he faces, walked just 5.6% of the batters and grounded out 46.8% of the balls he was batted to.
While most teams would be keen to hang on to the 25-year-old’s sudden emergence as an ace, there are factors that could push him into trade target. As mentioned above, he is arbitration-eligible and has just two years left on his contract at the end of this year. Despite Crochette’s contributions, the Red Sox have been downright terrible this year, and their 27-81 record could finish as one of the worst in baseball history.
With the Red Sox at their lowest point right now, it’s fair to wonder if they would have a chance to control Crochette and become competitive again. The Red Sox have reportedly explored a contract extension with Crochette but nothing has progressed, so he’s likely more valuable to the Red Sox as a trade piece than as a player.
An ace pitcher with a small salary and two years of club control should be a big draw for Crochet in a trade, but there are complications: His limited workload so far this year has raised questions about how best to move forward, with some suggesting a late-inning move to relief pitching would be the best option.
It was reported last week that Crochet believes it’s best for him to remain a starter for the sake of his health and hopes to sign a contract extension with a new team before moving to the bullpen.
Relief pitchers pitch fewer innings overall than starters, but they do pitch more frequently and essentially have to be on-call. Crochette may be better at building up strength for a regular starting schedule and thinks he could pitch consecutive days in the bullpen. It’s also possible that he and his agent are just trying to use the trade interest to ensure financial stability, which is understandable. For a pitcher who’s already missed significant time, it’s good to have some money in the bank before a team is counting on him to make a run for the World Series.
Perhaps that might scare off some teams that don’t want to send a prospect to Chicago and spend a lot of money on a crotchet player, but Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported today that the Dodgers don’t see an extension as an obstacle.
The situation is a bit similar to what happened with Tyler Glasnow this offseason. While not exactly the same as Crochet, Glasnow had workload concerns and was available via trade, but the Rays reportedly agreed to a contract extension as a condition of trade talks. The Dodgers ultimately made the deal work by trading Ryan Pepiot and Johnny DeLuca for Glasnow and Manuel Margot, signing Glasnow through 2028.
It’s understandable they’d want to go that route again given the challenges with their pitching staff: Dustin May and Emmett Sheehan both had season-ending surgeries, Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are both on the disabled list, and Bobby Miller struggled badly and was demoted to the minor leagues.
The team’s current starting lineup is centered around Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw. Glasnow has a shaky health record and Kershaw just returned from a long absence due to shoulder surgery. Their backups are three rookies: Gavin Stone, River Ryan and Justin Wroblewski. General manager Brandon Gomes said the team is looking for “impact” additions and Crochet certainly fits that bill. They are already in negotiations today with the Red Sox on a three-team blockbuster trade that would also include the Cardinals.
Crochette’s modest salary is certainly part of the appeal for the Dodgers, because the team is set to become a competitive balance tax payer for the third time, now exceeding the maximum. That means the team would pay a 110% tax on the money they receive, making a player like Crochette more attractive than a veteran who already makes an eight-figure salary per year. A theoretical extension would increase costs, but the new contract would start in 2025 and would not affect the current CBT hit.
Looking at Atlanta, they also have rotation issues: Spencer Strider is out for the season after UCL surgery, Max Fried, Herston Waldrep and Huascar Ynoa are all currently on the injured list, and Reinaldo Lopez was removed from his most recent start with a forearm strain and is scheduled to undergo an MRI.
That leaves a starting lineup of Chris Sale and Charlie Morton at the core. Sale has had a strong season, but he’s missed most of the past four years with injuries and is 35. Morton is 40 and has seen his strikeout rate decline for four straight years. Spencer Schwellenbach has filled in nicely, but has only made 10 major league starts.
Adding Crochette to the mix is obviously appealing, and Atlanta isn’t shy about signing most of its players to multi-year deals, so Crochette’s current minimum salary is also attractive given his CBT status. RosterResource projects Crochette’s salary at $273 million, just below the third tier of the CBT at $277 million. Going above that line would push him back 10 spots from his top 2025 draft pick and raise his tax rate.
As for reports that the Red Sox don’t want to move him within their division, that’s entirely understandable — most teams don’t want to see their best player play for a team they play more often than others, and the Red Sox could easily cross a few teams off their list and still have plenty of suitors.
The Royals have a pretty strong starting lineup and just acquired Michael Lorenzen in a trade today, so they’ll be focusing on bolstering their offense in the coming days. The Twins and Guardians need starting pitchers, but they may have to shop outside of Crochet. With players like Yusei Kikuchi, Jameson Taillon and Cal Quantrill on the market, they’re likely to be looking to add to their lineups.