Red Sox Predicted to Make Blockbuster Trade for Ace All-Star

Getty Red Sox offseason moves could include a trade for an ace lefty pitcher.

For the Red Sox, given the way the 2024 season ended for the starting pitching rotation, which was in a shambles by September, to the extent that the team even gave a shot to 44-year-old Rich Hill,. it’s easy to forget that the season started with some blazing performances from the team’s pitching rotation, where it seemed that each hurler’s performance was a bit better than the one before.

Tanner Houck was great. Kutter Crawford was great. Brayan Bello was great. Garrett Whitlock was great. Nick Pivetta was great. Remember, Boston came out of April with a combined 2.71 ERA, the best in MLB. By the end of the year, that was a 4.04 ERA, 17th in the league.

It’s clear that, for that to change in 2025, Boston will need renewed health, but will also need both an upgrade in frontline talent and more depth. Last year’s free-agent signee Lucas Giolito did not pitch an inning for Boston before suffering a season-ending elbow injury, but there is hope that he will return to the mound next season.

He’s not going to be enough. The Red Sox know that. The team was reported to be seeking to sign two of the top three pitchers on the market–Blake Snell, Max Fried and Corbin Burnes–but have already missed out on Snell, who’s signing with the Dodgers. And backup option Yusei Kikuchi is off the market, too, heading to the Angels.

If the Red Sox are to bring in a 1-2 punch for the top of the rotation, it’s becoming clear they may need a trade. And no pitcher is better on the trade market than White Sox ace Garrett Crochet.

Red Sox Pegged as Top Trade Partner

At MassLive earlier this month, the consensus was that the Red Sox would make a deal for Crochet this winter.

Wrote Sean McAdam, veteran Red Sox beat reporter: “The Sox checked in on Crochet at the deadline, but Crochet’s comments about not pitching in the postseason without a contract extension made dealing him impossible. Without that complication, they find their elite starter in the offseason.”

Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden, writing in The Athletic, had a notion of what the Red Sox might need to give up to make sure a deal happen: Sending Triston Casas, Wilyer Abreu and catcher Connor Wong to the White Sox.

“Based on what the White Sox are saying, I think a package of Casas, Abreu and Connor Wong probably gets close to landing Crochet. The Red Sox could then replace Abreu with prospect Roman Anthony in right field, replace Wong with Kyle Teel at catcher, move (Rafael) Devers to first base and sign either Alex Bregman or Willy Adames in free agency.”

Garrett Crochet an Iffy Proposition

That’s a lot to give up for Crochet. Sure, he is still only 25 years old and has two more years of arbitration ahead of him after this season. But Crochet had a wild 2024 season, in which he recovered from a rocky start with a dominant showing in May and June, when he logged 11 starts and went 5-2 with a 1.49 ERA.

Outside of the two months of dominance, Crochet may have showed his true colors in other parts of the season. Remember, he’s a converted reliever who has long been injury-prone. After the All-Star break, Crochet went 0-6 with a 5.12 ERA and a WHIP of 1.397, worrisome stats for a guy who had a 0.950 WHIP before the break.