The Red Sox acquired pitcher Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, and they sure seem thrilled about it.
Boston was able to complete the trade shortly after ramping up efforts to acquire the young lefty, trading away four prospects to get it done — catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow discussed the trade shortly after it was made official, and certainly didn’t care to hide his excitement.
“We feel like we got a legitimate number one starter in Garrett; left-handed, a ton of swing and miss, massive strikeouts, and feel like the best is still in front of him,” Breslow said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “We’re excited about what he brings, and obviously, we needed to trade really good players in order to be able to do this, but that’s the cost right now, and we’re very much focused on what we were able to get.
“… (Crochet) adds depth, adds quality, adds a bonafide ace. We feel he’s going to continue to improve, really excited to get him into our pitching infrastructure, getting him a chance to work with (Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey) and winning a bunch of games at Fenway Park for us.”
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Crochet, 25, is just about everything you could want out of a pitching addition, as he’s coming off the best season of his young career — finishing with a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts. Crochet also made the American League All-Star team, where he was teammates with Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran, on his way to finishing the season with 209 strikeouts in just 146 innings.
It’s far from official, but you can expect to see him take the mound when Boston opens its season against the Texas Rangers on March 27.
Featured image via D. Ross Cameron/Imagn Images
