One of the most intriguing names in the run-up to the deadline is still White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet. It’s unclear if he will be dealt at all with just over a day to go, but a lot of clubs are intrigued. In differing degrees, he has already been linked to the Dodgers, Phillies, and Padres. Today on X, Jon Heyman of The New York Post added Atlanta on the list. The Sox would prefer not to deal Crochet within the division, according to Travis Sawchik of theScore, which made it seem unlikely that he would end up with another A.L. Central team last week on X.
Given his peculiar career path, Crochet is a very unique trade candidate. Even though he was just 21 years old in 2020, he was promptly called up to the majors. The following season, the Sox maintained him in a relief role and he threw really effectively, but Tommy John surgery destroyed much of his season in 2022 and 2023.
That put him in an odd situation as 2024 approached. Due to the missing time due to injury, he had only thrown 73 major league innings. He had also thrown 12 1/3 innings in the minors as part of his rehab assignment after surgery last year. Nevertheless, he accrued service time while on the injured list, and in 2023, he reached three years of service, making him eligible for arbitration. His pay was raised to $800K, which was just above the league minimum, despite the fact that he had seldom pitched.
Here in 2024, the Sox extended his playing career, and the outcomes have greatly above any realistic anticipations. With 114 1/3 innings pitched, the left-hander has already surpassed his workload from the combined four years prior. He has struck out 34.6% of batters he has faced while only allowing 3.23 earned runs per nine innings. In addition, he has gotten grounders on 46.8% of balls in play and limited walks to a 5.6% clip.
If a pitcher at the age of 25 suddenly turned into an ace, most teams would be hanging on to him, but there are other reasons that are forcing him off the market. He only has two years left of club control after this one, and as previously stated, he has already met the requirements for arbitration. Despite Crochet’s contributions, the Sox remain dreadful this year and could end up among the worst teams in history with a 27-81 record.
It’s reasonable to wonder if the Sox can return to being competitive within their control window over Crochet, considering where they are right now. He’s probably more of a trade asset for them than a player because they supposedly tried to extend their contract with him but failed.
Crochet should have enormous trade appeal because he is an elite pitcher with a pitiful salary and two additional years of club control, but there are also issues. Due to his reduced workload going into the year, there have been concerns about how to proceed. Some have suggested that switching to relief work in the latter stages of the process would be the wisest course of action.
Crochet thinks it would be better for his health to stay in a starting role, according to reports from last week. A new club would want to sign him to an extension before putting him in the bullpen.
Relievers must pitch more frequently and are practically on call, even if they log less innings overall than starters. Maybe Crochet thinks he can better prepare his body for the usual starting schedule, but working in the bullpen may mean pitching whenever he wants, even on consecutive days. It is also plausible that he and his representatives are merely attempting to take advantage of the trade interest in order to secure some financial stability. It would be convenient for a player who has already missed a lot of time to have some cash on hand before a team heavily depends on him to lead them to a World Series victory.
That might deter some teams from sending important prospects to Chicago and spending a sizable sum of money on Crochet. But according to a report published today by Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers do not see the extension as a barrier.
There are some similarities between this situation and the Tyler Glasnow circumstances from the offseason. He was available in trade, though the Rays reportedly demanded an extension as a condition of trade talks. He had some workload concerns, though not nearly as much as Crochet. Ultimately, the Dodgers completed the trade by securing Glasnow’s contract through 2028 by sending Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca to the Rays in exchange for Glasnow and Manuel Margot.
Given their difficulties with pitching, it makes sense that they would want to take that route once more. Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are also on the injured list, and Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan both needed season-ending surgeries. Bobby Miller was optioned down to the minor leagues because of his extreme struggles.
The club’s current lineup is led by Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow. While Kershaw recently made a full recovery from a protracted absence following shoulder surgery, Glasnow has a patchy medical history. Three rookies, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, and Justin Wrobleski, provide support for them. Crochet would definitely meet the club’s requirement for “impact” additions, according to general manager Brandon Gomes. They have already arranged a significant deal with the Sox today, a three-team blockbuster that also included the Cardinals.
Given that the Dodgers are currently over the top tier and will soon be third-time payers of the competitive balance tax, Crochet’s modest salary is undoubtedly part of their allure. That means they will pay a 110% tax on any money they take on, so someone like Crochet would be more appealing than a veteran who is already making eight figures annually. The theoretical extension would increase his cost but the new deal would start in 2025 and wouldn’t impact his current CBT hit.
Turning to Atlanta, they have their own rotation challenges. Spencer Strider is out for the season due to UCL surgery while Max Fried, Hurston Waldrep and Huascar Ynoa are also on the IL at the moment. Reynaldo López was removed from his most recent start due to forearm tightness and is slated for an MRI.
That leaves them with a rotation nucleus consisting of Chris Sale and Charlie Morton. Sale is having a great season but missed most of the previous four years due to injury and is now 35 years old. Morton is 40 years old and his strikeout rate has been declining for four straight years. Spencer Schwellenbach has been filling in nicely but has ten big league starts to his name.
Adding Crochet in there would obviously be appealing and Atlanta is not afraid to sign extensions, having given multi-year pacts to most of their roster. Crochet’s minimal salary at present is also appealing on account of their CBT status. RosterResource has them at $273MM, just under the third CBT tier of $277MM. Going over that line would result in their top 2025 draft pick being bumped back ten spots, as well as an increased taxation rate.
As for the report that the Sox don’t want to move him within the division, that’s perfectly understandable. Most clubs don’t want to see their best players thriving on clubs that they play more often than others and the Sox should have plenty of suitors even while crossing a couple of teams off the list.
The Royals have a fairly strong rotation and just traded for Michael Lorenzen today, so they will probably be focused on adding offense in the days to come. The Twins and Guardians could use some rotation help but it seems they may have to shop in the non-Crochet aisle. The market also features such guys as Yusei Kikuchi, Jameson Taillon, Cal Quantrill and others.
