Garrett

Crochet

It didn’t take long to become official after word leaked Wednesday that Crochet was on his way to Boston. The left-hander was impressive in his first year as a starter with 209 strikeouts in 146 innings and a 3.58 ERA. To say his fantasy stock improves with this deal is quite the understatement, as he goes to a playoff contender from a team that lost 121 games. There’s potential for fantasy stardom over the coming years for Crochet as long as he stays healthy.

McWilliams notes that Kyle Teel is involved in the trade, while Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that Boston will also send Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Wikelman Gonzalez in the deal. The Mets, Yankees and a host of other teams all reportedly had interest in acquiring Crochet, but it appears Boston will get arguably the top pitcher available on the market. Assuming there are no hangups, Crochet should pitch at the top of the Boston rotation, and his ability to miss bats makes him one of the best fantasy bets for 2025.

Rosenthal and Sammon add that the Phillies and Red Sox are among the other teams interested in Crochet, but the Mets and Yankees have been the most aggressive so far in trade talks. The 25-year-old southpaw, who is under team control for two more season before reaching free agency is the best pitcher available on the trade market this offseason following last year’s breakout campaign where he led all big-league starters with a staggering 35.1 percent strikeout rate across 146 innings (32 starts). At this point, it’s unclear how close the White Sox are to making a decision, but the asking price figures to be astronomical.

As the offseason goes on, it’s more and more likely that the White Sox will trade their 25-year-old starting pitcher and the Brewers join the Orioles, Dodgers, and Red Sox as the teams who have expressed the most interest in making a deal happen. If we assume that the White Sox are looking to acquire top-end prospects, that would seem to favor the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Orioles who are ranked inside the top six of Fangraph’s farm system rankings. The Brewers rank 17th so they would need to make a pretty big offer to come out on top here.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported Sunday afternoon that the Reds have emerged as a major threat to acquire the White Sox’ southpaw, but the Orioles, Red Sox and Dodgers have also been inquiring on him since the start of the off-season. Where there’s this much smoke, there’s usually fire, so don’t be surprised if the 25-year-old hurler is donning a new jersey on Opening Day 2025.

Cotillo says the Red Sox haven’t been aggressive in pursuing Crochet, even though they’d seem to match up as well with the White Sox as anyone in the league. The Yankees, though, are firmly in the mix. The White Sox are looking for bats in return from Crochet, so the Reds might have to take from the major league club to satisfy them by building a deal around Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand or maybe even Matt McLain. Andrew Abbott or Nick Lodolo could also be on the table, especially since one of them would stand to lose a rotation spot to Crochet anyway.

Feinsand adds that the Orioles were in on the Blake Snell sweepstakes before the veteran lefty inked a five-year deal earlier this week with the Dodgers — who we’re never going to rule out as a potential landing spot for anyone these days — and would make sense as a trade partner for the White Sox given their cornucopia of prospect talent. Crochet cemented his status as an elite fantasy contributor with last season’s breakout campaign, leading all big-league starters with a staggering 35.1 percent strikeout rate across 146 innings (32 starts). It’s going to take a considerable haul to pry him away from the White Sox, but the Orioles and Red Sox make sense as logical destinations, especially if they come up empty in their pursuit of upper-echelon veteran free agent aces like Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.

While Bowden is speculating on the exact trade package the Red Sox would offer for Crochet, it’s interesting to note his mention of Casas since there has been lots of reporting this offseason that the Red Sox are looking to move Rafael Devers off of third base. If the Red Sox were to sign a third baseman and move Devers to first base then they may view Casas as a palatable trade option if it nets them a potential difference-making starter like Crochet. Bowden suggested that “a package of Casas, Wilyer Abreu, and Connor Wong probably gets close to landing Crochet. The Red Sox could then replace Abreu with prospect Roman Anthony in right field, replace Wong with Kyle Teel at catcher.”

The Phillies only have one opening in their starting rotation with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez returning in 2025, but it seems that they are intent on taking a big swing to fill it. Bohm is 28 years old and coming off three straight solid seasons but seems to be capped as a .280 hitter with 15-20 home run power, so it’s unclear if that profile would excite the White Sox. Especially with the Orioles and Red Sox are allegedly open to trading some of the top 15 prospects in all of baseball. It’s still early days, but the Phillies seem intent on shaking up their lineup, and Nightingale reports that “if the Phillies trade Bohm, they are expected to make a strong play for Alex Bregman, whose talent and personality would fit in perfectly with the team, or perhaps sign Willy Adames and move him over to third base.”

He adds that those aren’t the only four teams interested in the 25-year-old left-hander. Crochet’s trade deadline value was up in the air because of workload issues in his return from Tommy John and because of his move from the bullpen to the rotation. Now, though, it’s less complicated; he’s simply a young pitcher with ace ability and two years of control left before free agency. The White Sox are almost surely going to move him and net themselves an outstanding return. They’re focusing on top position prospects now after targeting young pitchers in previous trades and at the top of the draft.