Adding Garrett Crochet is going to dent your farm system quite a bit.
The White Sox asked one team for three top prospects in exchange for their star lefty starter, an interested team told Sports Illustrated.
The Red Sox, Phillies, Orioles and Dodgers are teams that have expressed interest in the lefty, per The Post’s Jon Heyman.
“The Sox have stuck by their high asking price ever since they put him on the market at the trade deadline,” Tom Verducci wrote. “Said one high-ranking source of a team that was interested in Crochet, ‘We’re out. They wanted three of our top prospects. Three. We can’t do that.’”
The White Sox are asking for the moon and rightfully so since the game of musical chairs for starting pitchers in free agency may be soon ending and some teams may be left without a seat.
Blake Snell (Dodgers) and Max Fried (Yankees) are off the board, Corbin Burnes could soon be gone and there are rumblings Roki Sasaki already is headed to the Dodgers.
Crochet is the top starter available via the trade market and the rebuilding White Sox are trying to cash in their biggest trade chip at max value.
The 25-year-old fireballer has two years of team control remaining and an acquiring team could obviously try to extend him.
He produced a fantastic season in 2024 amid the worst team season in modern MLB history, going 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA spanning 32 starts in his first season as a starter.
Crochet struck out 209 batters in 146 innings.
Verducci noted there is a “disagreement” on Crochet’s value due to his remaining control and the lack of extended success and health.
While there’s no denying his talent, Crochet has only shined as a starter this past year. He also only pitched in 13 total games spanning the 2022 and ’23 seasons.
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Teams have become quite protective of their top prospects in recent years, with only a few teams — the Padres and Phillies are notable examples — truly willing to trade their young talent with little remorse.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz previously revealed the team was prioritizing bats over arms to help the rebuild after last year’s 41-121 campaign.
The franchise expected to trade Crochet by the end of the week, per Verducci.
“We are focusing on position player return,” Getz said. “That is our primary focus in any trade talks. The right players have to be there. We can’t force anything. We certainly need to improve our offense. That is very clear. That is what we need to do in any trade or free-agent acquisition.”
He added: “You want to get the highest return for your club. Some organizations’ top talent is much different than others. We have spent a lot of time and resources studying other teams’ farm systems. Garrett had an outstanding year, so as much as other teams are interested, I can also see him making an Opening Day start for us as well.”
