How ESPN Graded Red Sox’s Seismic Trade For Garrett Crochet

The Boston Red Sox didn’t have to shell out a gargantuan sum of money — at least not yet — to land Garrett Crochet on Wednesday.

But it did cost the Red Sox a pretty penny in prospect capital.

The Red Sox acquired the 25-year-old left-handed starting pitcher from the Chicago White Sox for four prospects, which included Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez.

The trade filled a massive need for the Red Sox by giving them a frontline starting pitcher to spearhead their already solid rotation. And given Crochet’s budding potential to become a superstar, ESPN gave the Red Sox a favorable B+ grade for pulling off the deal

“Let’s spin this trade in the best possible light: The Red Sox just obtained a potential 2025 and/or 2026 Cy Young winner without giving up any of their core big league contributors or one of their top three prospects,” ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle wrote. “If Crochet becomes the full version of what he flashed in 2024, no is going to question this trade.

“Yet, the possible range of outcomes for this move is wide because, for one thing, we’ve only seen Crochet sparkle as a starter for one season, and even then, it was for only 146 innings. And Crochet has an ugly history of injury, one that left him with just 73 big league innings entering last season. Despite that low innings count, Crochet has accrued more than four years of big league service time, meaning he hits free agency after 2026, barring an extension before then. A lot of risk and a lot of prospect value for two controllable seasons. I still think it was worth it.”

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The Red Sox didn’t part with any current big leaguers to get Crochet, who struck out an eye-popping 209 batters in 146 innings last season, but gave up some formidable prospects to get the deal done.

Teel, who was ranked as Boston’s fourth-best prosect, and Montgomery are Boston’s last two first-round picks while Meidroth was a borderline top-10 prospect with exceptional plate discipline. Gonzalez looked to be a top pitching prospect in 2023 but struggled this past season, causing his value to dip.

Doolittle seemed encouraged by the package of prospects the White Sox received and also gave them a B+ for the trade. But even more than the Red Sox, Chicago is banking on potential in a big way in this situation.

“It’s a solid haul. Is it a good enough haul? That entirely depends on whether one or two of these four prospects ascend to All-Star status … and whether we find out if one of Boston’s young stars-in-waiting was there to be had,” Doolittle wrote.