White Sox ace Garrett Crochet attracting notable suitors in trade talks

Garrett Crochet is one of baseball's best-kept secrets. He's the kind of pitcher you want on the mound in Game 1 of the World Series, and yet, if you ask a casual baseball fan if they know who he is, they probably won't.

That's because he pitched for the historically awful 2024 Chicago White Sox. They are so bad that even though Crochet is not a free agent until after the 2027 season, general manager Chris Getz has publicly admitted the team is willing to deal him in exchange for much-needed position player talent.

Teams should be pounding on the table to get a hold of a guy with an upper-90s bullet fastball, low-90s clipping cutter, and mid-80s big sweeping slider. He's a nightmare to bat against thanks to his deadly arsenal of pitches.

There are some injury concerns—he had Tommy John surgery back in 2022—but rumors at the trade deadline indicated the Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, Braves, Red Sox, Orioles, and Yankees had all checked in on his availability. It's fair to assume that other teams will enter the bidding as the offseason wears on.

Crochet is worth a small fortune in a trade because he is still on his rookie contract for three more seasons. Crochet's price won't be as high as Juan Soto's when the Nationals traded him to the Padres, but it might top any other trade in recent memory.

It's safe to assume the White Sox will be looking for at least three top 100 prospects, with one or two being in the top 25 of their internal prospect rankings. The teams with the wealthiest farm systems among the interested parties are the Red Sox, Cubs, and Orioles. But, if the White Sox wanted to, they could eschew the prospects and go for a young major leaguer with less or comparable service time. However, each Crochet suitor will have preferences about who is off-limits in a trade. If I'm the Padres, will I put Jackson Merrill on the table? Probably not. 

If his market heats up and all the teams commit their full resources to a Crochet trade, it's hard to imagine anybody topping the Orioles. They have the best combination of prospects and young major leaguers, but who knows how much Orioles GM Mike Elias would be willing to pay?

After that, it becomes a bidding war, with the White Sox having internal preferences regarding who they want, and there isn't clear information about who the White Sox prefer or who the suitors are willing to trade. Crochet is in the same tier of pitcher as top free agents Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Blake Snell. Given his youth and far more team-friendly contract, one could argue he's an even more attractive asset.

It'll be fascinating to see which GMs are willing to meet the steep asking price to acquire him.

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