One day after the Mets and Yankees finished battling for the top free agent, they’re in the competition for arguably the winter’s #1 trade candidate. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of the Athletic report that the New York teams are currently the most aggressive suitors for White Sox’s lefty Garrett Crochet.
The Athletic writes that the Red Sox and Phillies have also expressed interest, but they appear to be behind the New York teams for the moment. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network put the Brewers on Crochet this morning, though The Athletic report does not mention Milwaukee. Rosenthal and Sammon indicate that no team is close to pulling off a deal yet.
Crochet stayed healthy in his first full season as a starter. The Sox pulled back his workload after failing to line up a deadline trade. Chicago never shut him down or skipped his turns through the rotation, but they abbreviated his starts at the end of the year. Crochet finished the season with 146 innings across 32 appearances. He turned in dominant rate stats, striking out 35.1% of batters faced against an excellent 5.5% walk rate. His 3.58 earned run average didn’t quite align with those fantastic peripherals. That’s at least in part because he was pitching in front of one of the game’s worst defensive teams, contributing to an elevated .318 average on balls in play against him.
Going into 2025, Crochet projects as a top-of-the-rotation arm. He shouldn’t have as many concerns about his workload down the stretch. His deadline trade candidacy was also complicated by the late revelation that he was seeking a contract extension if he’d be asked to pitch into the postseason during his first season as a starter. That’s no longer an obstacle.
Chicago GM Chris Getz spoke in generalities about a potential Crochet trade. He repeated the organization’s preference to add young hitting talent but suggested they weren’t opposed to building around pitching if they felt it was the best offer (X link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Getz reiterated that he didn’t feel compelled to make a trade this offseason, though it’d be a major surprise if Crochet were still in a White Sox uniform by the end of March.
Of the New York teams, the Mets have more talent at the top of the farm system. Their system is headlined by shortstop Jett Williams. Baseball America ranks 19-year-old infielder Jesus Baez as the #3 prospect in the organization. Ronny Mauricio is a former top prospect who might’ve opened the season as New York’s third baseman had he not torn his ACL in winter ball last year. Third baseman Brett Baty has seen his stock dip as he’s underperformed against MLB pitching, but he’s drawing attention as a change of scenery candidate. While Baty no longer has the pull to headline a Crochet package, he could be of interest as a secondary piece. (The Sox built their deadline return for Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech around Miguel Vargas, another post-hype infielder.)
The Yankees’ system is headlined by Jasson Domínguez. There’s a sharp drop thereafter, however. It’d be a surprise if the Yanks were willing to put Domínguez in a Crochet package. The switch-hitter may well be New York’s starting center fielder next year, with Aaron Judge potentially kicking to right field after Juan Soto walked. Outfielder Spencer Jones and infielders George Lombard Jr. and Roderick Arias were once viewed as Top 100 type talents, but they’re all coming off somewhat alarming minor league seasons. Jones and Arias struck out at huge rates, while Lombard didn’t hit for much power in A-ball.
Crochet is controllable for two seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a bargain $2.9MM salary. Even for the New York franchises, the affordability is appealing. The Yankees could prefer to attack the lineup in free agency rather than make a top-of-the-market splash for starting pitching. The Mets still need a top-of-the-rotation starter. They’ve thus far shied away from making that kind of move in free agency, instead building the rotation with upside plays for Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas.
As a met fan this is what ive been waiting for. They dont have the 60+ prospects, but they have many at 50-55+ and the white sox apparently want volume. Seems like a good matchup and mets might “overpay” in prospects to win now.
We can’t lose again to the Mets! I’m a huge Crochet fan, his stuff is unbelievable. He’s also cheap. Earn your fckng money Cash lmfao
Yeah, Crochet is good, but I think they may be better trading for something that isn’t readily available in free agency. This year has some pretty good SP available, but we need to replace Soto’s offense and improve our defense….
Curious to see how this one turns out.
@Yankees Clipper tbh I’m not high on the remaining fa. Teoscar strikes out a lot and I don’t trust Santander, Fried or Burnes. I wouldn’t give them a long contract. I would rather try to add short term contracts. Trade for Bellinger, Hoerner and Crochet and sign Walker if he accepts a 2-3 years deal, if not sign Bell or Santana for 1 year. Sasaki would be huge but it’s probably unrealistic.
I forgot Buehler. He’s also very interesting
Dang man. Well, if they landed Walker, Bellinger, Horner AND Crochet, I’d be very happy.
Bellinger and Hoerner shouldn’t be expensive. Crochet will be, but they could still acquire all of them. Let’s see what Cash will do…
@Bronx
Who would you phase out for Buehler, considering he’s coming back from an off year, adrenaline driven post session success aside? Cortez (174 IP and 3.77/3.85) and Schmidt (16 starts with a 2.85/3.58 line) looked pretty good. Cortez has 1 more arb year and I think Schmidt has 3 years of control left. If you guarantee him 3 years he’s likely going to want real money (3/$60 with an opt out???) or might prefer a 1 year deal ? Is it the right move to put him ahead of those guys mentioned when your not sure if he will provide more on field value than either? I’m all for grabbing a FOR healthy guy like Fried or z or Burnes but Walker is a risk for real money. If it’s JUST Walker then they could theoretically trade one of Cortez or Schmidt and send the other to the pen. My guess, it would be Schmidt b but I feel like he might be on the verge of deve into a rally good #3 type. Interesting thought tho. I wonder if Walker would be willing to go to the pen if they ask? Think he could be a closer?
@KnicksFanCavsFan I wouldn’t phase out Schmidt, but I would trade Nestor. As far as I know Buehler is expected to get a 1 year prove it deal. So the risk isn’t high. Fried and Burnes are looking for a long contract (around 6/180 ), I’m not a fan of them, especially at that price. There are some red flags. I would give a huge contract to a 30yo Wheeler, let’s say 8/300, because he is reliable, durable and performs at a very high level, even in the postseason. I’m not sure if you can say that about Fried and Burnes. But maybe you have to take some risks because next year’s sp free agent class isn’t great…
@Bronx
My bad. Misunderstood your post. You are calling him Buehler, but when you mentioned (Chris).Walker might want a 2 -3 year deal. My mind registered it as Walker Buehler. My bad.
I like Schmidt, and I think he’s going to be a good pitcher. However, Cortez has more of a track record but only has 1 year of control. He would be good for a “ready now” competitor like for example, the Mets, whereas I think Schmidt would be better for a team retooling for the near future, like perhaps the Cubs, Washington, Milwaukee, Dbacks, etc.
@Knicks when it comes to Schmidt, Ketel Marte is a very interesting player, but the dbacks probably won’t trade him. I also like Suzuki, that’s it.
@Clip: If the Mets don’t re-sign him, Manaea would look good in pinstripes. That said, Fried and Burnes are out there as well.
Yeah, I think John Morosi said that the Yankees are leading the Fried chase (which really means nothing because they were leading the Soto chase too…..until they weren’t!).
Manaea is an interesting arm because of the Sale-like delivery change he made last season, which seemed to catapult him to a different level. I actually have him going to the Mets…. lol.
Yankees have crap prospects so no real chance to get him without including Dominguez
Yankees have to stop trading away all their young talent. It’s their demise. They do great at acquiring and developing then get desperate and trade away their young talent to win now at the cost of the future
Go get arenado and Williams in trades with minimal expense then build rest of roster via free agency
@Big
Are you a Yankee fan? I am because the Yanks have graduated several rookies in the past 2 years? Volpe @SS has won a GG, and Gil SP was ROY this year. Wells C was runner up ROY. Dominguez likely would have started in CF last year if he wasn’t injured. He’ll likely be the starting CF this year. I was really hoping fellow Domican Soto would stay and be a mentor to him. Holmes, our closer was homegrown. Yanks will likely have near ready prospects, 2b Durbin and 1b/C Rice at AAA. Other than King, who wasn’t a rookie, used in the Soto deal, who have they traded worth regretting?
NYM would have to part with Jett Williams, Sproat and a couple other top prospects.
I really think the Oriolrs and the Red Sox make the most sense for Crochet. Mets have the prospects Yankees i don’t think do.
Only way I can see Yankees pulling this off (and Getz getting a good return) is with Dominguez. The others are no longer enough to headline such a trade. I’m hoping for the Red Sox, O’s, or Cubs to swoop in with a bid, though the Cubs are less likely after signing Boyd.
Yeah Dominguez would certainly get the White Sox interested i just don’t know if that makes any sense for the Yankees.
I’d think white Sox would want guys that aren’t ready to hop into the mlb immediately. 2026-2027 guys but who knows.
Yeah probably perfect world i agree but he’s got a full 6 years of control left.
Mayer for Crochet is think makes a lot of sense.
Thats why i keep thinking clifford benge and rodriguez from the mets. All 21 and under w big upside and a mix of power, athleticism, and bat to ball skills between the three.
I mean the Mets have the prospects but I don’t think they want to trade them away. They can just spend money.
But when you have prospects who are blocked or have the same skills sets, you can. With soto and nimmo locked in, only CF is open, so do they really need both Benge and Gilbert? Jett and Acuna both play 2b or CF and have similar skill sets. Mauricio and Baty both also 2b/3b (and mauricio cant play good D anyway).
Rodriguez another ss/2b. Baez 3b blocked. They could easily trade 2-3 away and have positions covered.
Yeah I suppose. Let me look i will come up with a proposal
Good point, but they also have to try to win games, and the farther away a prospect is from the majors, the riskier his chances of succeeding.
@BITA The problem with that is the Mets still have significant holes on the roster, even with a $350m payroll. They have all of one starting caliber OFer, who crashed and burned the last half of 2024. They’re missing a starting corner IFer. They’re missing a TOR arm and a MOR, assuming they’re serious contenders, and they’re missing a bullpen.
They have Nimmo and Soto. That’s 2 outfielders not 1.
I would say Everson Pereira, Ben Rice and Spencer Jones would be close to a deal. Add Chase Hampton and it’s looking about right.
That’s a terrible proposal bw
Williams and Benge. That should get you most of the way there. Both top 100 guys both former 1st rounders. White Sox need a lot of help in the outfield and Williams might play shortstop or 2b.
You can keep both Williams and Benge. I wouldn’t trade you Davis Martin for that pair of non starters.
Anyways, I like my trade a lot. I’d love those six prospects for Robert and Crochet. Jonah Tong is going to be real good. And Acuna is going to really really really good.
@bw
I think the Yanks are more likely to trade Jones than Rice unless they sign or trade for a 1b good for the next 3-4 years. Spencer may have a higher ceiling, but I think Rice has a higher floor.
@Hyrax
For two years of SP when we already have 6 SP? He’s our starting CF. An article just came out saying they’re planning on moving Judge back to RF. The market has plenty of corner OF but not too many decent CF. They could move Jazz to CF by then that leaves a hole at 3b and 2b. They could also acquire Bellinger and mine him to CF but I think they would prefer 1b or LF with CF being a back up plan should JD get injured or struggle enough to warrant a demotion to AAA. So I don’t think JD is going anywhere bendy of those reasons.
Crochet is good, but between his injury history and only having 2 years of control, I think most interested teams would prefer a package not centered around a top 25 prospect at a position of need.
I do think they could be interested in near ready prospects 2b Caleb Durbin or 1b/C Ben Rice plus a lower level guy. One of them and a lower level guy might work. Keep in mind that neither Gil, nor Austil Wells were considered top 75 prospects, yet they were 1 and 2 in ROY voting.
Yankees having 6 SP and having 6 SP as good as Crochet are two very, very different things.
Red Sox since crochet will get injured just like sale
Brewers make the most sense to me. Since they can’t sign a free agent SP, Crochet is their off-season.
Neither team has the prospects to make that deal.
lmao, the Mets 1000% have the prospects to get him. So do the Yankees. It’s just a matter of how many they’d feel comfortable parting with. This dude isn’t a young Stephen Strasburg or anything. He’s a converted reliever with an injury history and a very small sample size of success in the majors, and he only has control through 2025 and 2026.
The Red Sox need this guy and Breslow needs a win to stay relevant. Boston has the superior prospects as well. Get it done Breslow!
So do like a half dozen other teams. The O’s can top anyone’s prospect offer. The Cubs can, too. The Giants have some stuff to offer and so do the Dodgers. The Brewers need him bad since they can’t sign one of the FA’s. Would be a great get for the Reds at that salary. Padres wouldn’t surprise me. All those teams are presumably in discussions. It’s just that the NY teams have more leaky front offices.
The Mets do not have a leaky front office.
They kind of do in this new era. Cohen’s every move is reported.
The O’s can’t top any offer because they don’t have any Tier One pitching prospects. Neither does Boston or the Yankees for that matter.
lol. The White Sox are loaded with pitching prospects. They’re not looking for pitching.
Always looking for pitching. But they have a few nice prospects in place.
White Sox aren’t looking for pitchers.
Have you seen their bullpen?
Everyone is looking at what their team has, removes the “untouchables”, and then says what they want to trade is enough to get Crochet. That’s not how it works. Start by looking at the White Sox, and what they need. Remove the “untouchable” labels. The team that gives the White Sox what they need will get him. It will include a prospect you want to keep.
@stymeedone: Yes-and this applies to any really good trade target. Good businesspeople put themselves in the shoes of other person/organization instead of being self-absorbed and offering only what’s convenient.
@stymeedone Exactly. If the deal doesn’t cause fans of the acquiring team anguish, it’s not a deal the White Sox will make.
Crochet just had deGrom’s ROY season. The Mets aren’t getting him for Baty, Maurico, and Jett Williams. It wouldn’t suprise me if CWS holds out for three of the Mets top four position playing prospects while the Mets want to make it two of four, plus Baty, plus a fringy prospect around #10-15 in their org.
Naw. Keep the young talent and be patient. Toronto and Yankees are coming to an end of their dominance or lack there of. Sign fried and Santander
But of course they are…
The Mets would part with Baty, Jett Williams, Jesus Baez, and 1 of their 2 young Venezuelan catchers. Get it done Stearns.
The Mets can stick that deal in Juan Soto’s suite next to the smorgasbord.
How is Spencer Jones’ season “alarming” but Jett Williams wasn’t?
Typical media double standard against Yankee prospects.
maybe its just because Jones struggles were ‘known’ while Jetts may be less so. Either way, they aren’t great and would not be the best the White Sox could do.
Because jones K’d 200 times and Jett missed most of the season w injury. And at least he did well in his short stint at AAA at the very end. Plus he still does two things that will last at least in his 20s – draws a ton of BB and steals bases.
Seriously, striking out in 42% of your ABs at double AA is concerning to say the least. That strike out rate doesn’t magically get better in the big leagues, it usually gets worse especially when you see it’s gotten worse every year in the minors as he moves up.
Jett played in 30 games while Jones struck out in 42% of his ABs in AA. If that doesn’t worry you I don’t know what will.
Jones’ size does make his progress slower and lowers the success. All it takes is getting into high 20s and he’s back.
My goodness, Crochet might be the most overrated trade candidate we’ve ever seen. Or he might be as good as advertised. Personally, I’d need to see more than 1 single season albeit fairly dominant pitching to consider giving up the kings ransom the White Sox are reportedly seeking.
Yes, 32 whole starts with 1….yes 1 good year to speak for his resume and you’d think we’re speaking about Sandy Khofax……..the ChiSox fans, just like when we heard about how Quintana was an ACE in waiting and since….well everyone can see that was just hype and bullspit…….if I was the Yankees, I would be looking elsewhere and let the Mets overpay for him……there’s other fish in the sea…….
Just out of curiousity, how often did you watch him pitch? From what I saw, and what he did before the team and his side pulled off the workload, he was really special. Just treat him as a rookie SP that just got the call, that’s how most are evaluating his innings limits: there’s going to be a jump to full workload.
Seriously, Crochet could be the best pitcher in baseball next year.
@Troll…I completely agree with you. And the way he handled himself around the deadline with the extension talk rubbed me the wrong way. He’s had one good year as a starter and one good year as a reliever but he’s making demands.
Get it done Stearns, we need a #1 & #2 starters, (Jett, Baty, Baez and a catcher). for Crochet, he’s young and a lefty Come Onnn
I don’t agree with getting Crochet at all. The dude is a walking TJ waiting to happen. What happens if he ends up like Noah Syndergaard and loses his velocity? Crochet has not proven that he can pitch 170 innings. I’d rather they trade for someone like Luis Castillo, Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez (his youth interests me), etc.
Yes, 32 whole starts with 1….yes 1 good year to speak for his resume and you’d think we’re speaking about Sandy Khofax……..the ChiSox fans, just like when we heard about how Quintana was an ACE in waiting and since….well everyone can see that was just hype and bullspit…….if I was the Yankees, I would be looking elsewhere and let the Mets overpay for him……there’s other fish in the sea…….
A walking TJ would be if a guy had two or more. How do you feel about Cole Ragans?
What would it cost to grab Crochet and Luis Robert as a package deal for the Mets?
not everything can be solved with cash
It is rare for teams to do packages like that, as trading the players separately usually provides bigger, better returns.
If the Yankees could swing a deal for Crochet and Luis Robert that would slide Judge back to right field where he belongs.
Who lands on the IL first? I bet it would be Robert.
There’s a lot of mention of Dominguez and his possibly being off limits. Perhaps not if it’s part of a larger package including Luis Robert Jr.
Come on Stearns work your magic and “yank” this guy from under their noses. Santucci, Williams, McLean, tong and Baty should get it done. Git yerr pull. You are the captain now.
An obvious case of matching Sox. Meyer has the high pick pedigree to leverage in talks, but his ceiling seems lower than pre-draft evaluations.
Send him along with a pair of top 15 organizational prospects and Crochet is in Boston.
A lot of the teams aggressively pursuing Crochet don’t seem to have the prospects to land him. Phillies, Mets, Yankees…I got to believe that other teams can offer more than them.
Or I should say, don’t seem to be willing to part with their most desired prospects.
Crawford is a really good prospect. 1 more position player would get it done. Caba may not ultimately have the offense most covet, but a good glove SS is valuable. Up to DD.
The White Sox seemed to not like the Bohm/Crawford combo. I’m not sure Caba/Crawford changes thar narrative. I think a team like Boston can offer a far better package than the Phils, Mets or Yanks.
assuming jasson is untouchable the yankees just do not have the pieces to land crochet
getz isn’t opposed to building around pitching? How about Crochet? He could’ve had a rotation beginning with Cease, Crochet and Giolito, then built the team around them. It’s not rocket science. It’s called saving a buck at the expense of fielding a competitive team.
Getz and the White Sox need to wait until the tor free agent pitchers sign. If Boston misses out they might get a small fortune. Breslow might blink if he doesn’t get his tor arm the farm is loaded and can easily get Crochet.
that sounds like a smart idea which means they’ll do the opposite
No mention of how good Drew Gilbert looked in the power department for the triple a Mets when he came back from injury. Traded for Justin Verlander, is an intriguing piece to dangle in any trade.
Could play CF but long term home is right field where Soto just took ownership of.
It’s interesting that despite only pitching 70 innings prior to this year, he only has 2 years of control left. The Sox drafted him in 2020 and debuted him in the majors the same year despite a lot of health and developmental issues. They really ruined him. Although it should not have been made public, now better understand why he asked for the extension in order to pitch in the post-season.
I actually think we have the upper hand if this deal goes down. I know for a fact that the White Sox love Spencer Jones so, start with him and go from there. If we can get him out starting rotation will be
1. Cole
2.Crochet
3. Gil
4.fried via signed
5. Rodon
6th pitcher Schmidt but, he’ll probably be in this trade.
They already have a their own Spencer Jones in the minors in George Wolkow.
if Jones is the headline for Crochet, Getz needs to be fired immediately..
Twins have the prospects to get a deal done. They need a good SP, preferably a lefty, and they need him cheap. Only problem is, CWS might not want to trade in their own division.
Let the Mets and Yanks go buy a SP or two. They got nothing of value to the White Sox. Crochet demands proven talent in return. A lot of it.
Jet Benge and Gilbert should be off the table.