The arms race in the AL East continues. The Red Sox acquired All-Star pitcher Garrett Crochet from the White Sox via trade, ending months of trade rumors. The White Sox, meanwhile, netted four prospects, highlighted by two former first-round picks.

The Red Sox’s Return

• SP Garrett Crochet (3.58 ERA, 209 K over 146 IP)

The White Sox used Garrett Crochet exclusively as a reliever over his first four pro seasons, even though he missed most of 2023 recovering from elbow surgery. It came after the White Sox drafted Crochet, a top pitching prospect at Tennessee, and slotted him in the bullpen to help their win-now team.

However, the move to the bullpen certainly worked for the 25-year-old left-hander.

Crochet struck out 209 batters in his first full season in the rotation. He only threw 146 innings, Chicago (AL) heavily limited his workload in the second half. Crochet didn’t have an outing longer than four innings from July 1 onward.

When Crochet was a reliever, he was a heavy fastball/slider pitcher, much like he was at UT. However, Crochet has other weapons in his arsenal. His newest addition came this past season, when Crochet added a hard cutter.

That cutter gave him not just an additional weapon against right-handed hitters but also an offering that he could in the zone thanks to above-average horizontal movement (1.7 in. better than league average). Because of that move, it can run in on righties more than anticipated. Not to mention, his cutter touched the mid-90s on occasion.

However, the premier pitch in his arsenal is an electric four-seam fastball that touches 100 MPH, although not as much as it did when he was in the bullpen. No pitcher in MLB had more cumulative whiffs (214) off the four-seamer in 2024. Freddy Peralta came in second with 204.

Crochet has two more years left of team control.

The White Sox’s Return

• C Kyle Teel (.288/.386/.433, 13 HR and 36 XBH over 112 G) (AA and AAA)
• OF Braden Montgomery (Did not play professionally in 2024)
• SP Wikelman Gonzalez (4.73 ERA, 92 K over 83.2 IP) (AA)
• SS Chase Meidroth (.293/.437/.400, seven HR and 30 XBH over 122 G) (AAA)

Boston gave up their top picks from both the 2023 and 2024 MLB Drafts. Thus, former UVA star Kyle Teel will head to Chicago.

Teel was the 14th overall pick in 2023 after a loud collegiate career with the Cavaliers. The catcher posted a .655 SLG in his junior season with Virginia and notched 105 hits, solidfying himself as one of the best pure hitters in the MLB Draft. He’s continued to be a contact-first catcher in the Red Sox system.

The bright spots in Teel’s game is that he can throw out runners (20% CS% in 2024) and hit. He also possesses excellent pitch recognition, allowing him to stay back on offspeed/breaking balls and work counts. Teel will likely cap out as a 20-home run hitter as a catcher, which is not bad whatsoever. And, he could make his MLB debut as early as next season.

Arguably the biggest piece in this deal, though, is former Texas A&M star Braden Montgomery. Montgomery slid to 12th in the 2024 MLB Draft despite what was a mammoth year with the Aggies. The switch-hitting outfielder hit 27 home runs in 2024 over 66 games, tied for 11th in the NCAA.

Montgomery is a five-tool player. The new White Sox prospect has a strong arm and pitched in spurts while in college, possesses above-average power and speed. However, Montgomery sustained a season-ending ankle injury that required surgery, hence why he didn’t play in the 2024 CWS, nor in the Minors.

Chicago (AL) got back one pitcher in this deal, a good one in high-upside arm Wikelman Gonzalez.

Gonzalez looked to be on track to pitch in the Majors in 2024 after a strong 2023. The former Red Sox hurler struck out 160 batters over 111.1 IP over two levels. Opposing batters only hit .190 off Gonzalez. However, in 2024, Gonzalez didn’t as much success (92 over 83.2 IP), although Double-A hitters still didn’t hit well off him .198.

There’s a lot of upside here with Gonzalez, thanks to a booming, hard fastball that can hit the upper-90s and jumps on batters. However, Gonzalez’s delivery is not the easiest to repeat and it showed in the numbers. The 22-year-old walked 46 batters, more than half a batter an inning last year. The year earlier, Gonzalez walked 70 over 111.1 frames.

The final piece to this deal is Chase Meidroth, a fourth-round pick from the 2022 MLB Draft. There’s not a lot of power in Meidroth’s profile, as he’s more of a slap hitter with an exceptional eye at the plate. Meidroth finished 2024 with a 71:105 K:BB ratio in 2024. His 105 walks put him first in the International League in said category.

Analysis

The Garrett Crochet trade is somewhat remiscient of when the White Sox traded Chris Sale to Boston after the 2016 season. Much like eight years ago, Chicago is in the midst of a deep rebuild and traded away arguably their best asset.

Chicago (AL) finally ends the Crochet saga, one that saw him not get traded in the summer after talks, as Crochet reportedly wanted an extension from any team that acquired him. While the Sox did have him under control for two more seasons, their rebuild will likely take a bit longer to get back to playoff contention.

The White Sox did very well in this trade, in terms of quantity. Three of the four players acquired are nearly MLB-ready and project to either be regulars or second-division regulars. Montgomery, the other player involved, has All-Star potential but is further behind despite a very polished bat.

As for the Red Sox, Crochet adds a much-needed ace to their rotation. It cost a pretty penny (or four) but Boston didn’t surrender Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell. their three best prospects.

Now, Boston can line up a top four that includes Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford. All four proved to be valuable starters, despite flaws. Houck gassed out somewhat in the second half, while Crawford led the Majors in home runs (34) allowed. Bello, a heavy sinkerballer, pitched signficantly better (.629 OPS) in the second half but doesn’t have elite stuff.

None of those three have the swing-and-miss profile as Crochet.

It marked the third significant move made by AL East teams in a 24-hour span. The Yankees added Max Fried to their rotation, while the Blue Jays traded for All-Star second baseman Andres Gimenez.