Chicago White Sox All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet, perhaps the most impactful pitcher available at Tuesday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, was not traded. The White Sox set a highest asking price, understandably, plus Crochet's agent indicated he would not pitch in the postseason without an extension. That presumably put a damper on negotiations.
Crochet, who turned only 25 in June, has been perhaps the lone bright spot for the last-place White Sox this season. The No. 11 pick in the 2020 draft, Crochet made his MLB debut as a reliever later the year, and he worked out of the bullpen from 2020-21. He missed all of 2022 and much of 2023 with Tommy John surgery before the White Sox moved him into the rotation this season.
That decision has been a smashing success. Crochet was a deserving All-Star and has thrown 114 1/3 innings with a 3.23 ERA and league-leading 160 strikeouts. He's struck out 34.6% of the batters he's faced, the highest rate among qualified starters by nearly two percentage points. Crochet is also among the league leaders in pitching WAR. He's been an ace, truly.
Given his performance, his talent, and the fact the White Sox are in the early stages of a deep rebuild, we ranked Crochet as the No. 1 trade candidate leading up to the deadline. Here's the write-up:
It's easy to forget that Chicago's decision to put Crochet in their rotation this spring was met with skepticism; not because he lacked talent, but because he lacked precedent. He came into the year having thrown just 73 big-league innings since being drafted in 2020 because of various injuries. Though he's more than doubled that figure during the interim period, the question remains: how much can you rely on him the rest of the way -- this season, and from now until his winter 2026 date with free agency? No one can say for sure, leading to a wider than normal range of potential outcomes and returns. There's no reason to doubt a healthy Crochet's ability; he's introduced a cutter that works as a bridge pitch between his fastball and slider, giving him the kind of interplay that has transformed him into an above-average starter. All the stars in the sky will eventually burn out; Crochet will too. But first, if the heavens allow, the probable best starter moved this deadline could help determine who wins a pennant this October.
Alas and alack, the White Sox did not trade Crochet prior to the deadline. Even if they intend to re-engage interested teams in the offseason, Chicago assumes the injury risk the rest of this season, plus they will only be trading two postseasons of Crochet rather than three. His value is likely never going to be higher than it was right now, yet he remains with the White Sox.
Crochet's 114 1/3 innings are by far a career high, eclipsing the 65 innings he threw as a sophomore at Tennessee in 2019. Crochet has shown no signs of slowing down, but his workload is in uncharted territory. The White Sox are far and away the worst team in baseball, so they will be able to cut back on Crochet's workload or shut him down entirely at some point later this year.
Crochet is making only $800,000 this season. He will remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible player through 2026.
