"Garrett Crochet isn't Chris Sale" - Red Sox insider claims Boston didn't lose big in White Sox trade

The Boston Red Sox acquired Garrett Crochet earlier this month, which has been their biggest signing of the off-season thus far. In return, they traded four of their highly rated prospects: Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Wikelman Gonzalez to the Chicago White Sox.

MLB insider Alex Speier believes the Boston Red Sox did not surrender a great deal in this move to sign Garrett Crochet, especially when compared to Chris Sale, who was traded by the Chicago White Sox at the end of the 2016 season. He feels the Red Sox have retained the three top prospects: Roman Anthony, Christian Campbell, and Marcelo Meyer, even though the White Sox earned a sizeable haul in this deal.

Alex Speier is a beat writer covering the Red Sox for The Boston Globe. He aired his thoughts on their trade with the White Sox for Garret Crochet in an interview with Chuck Garfien for the Chicago Sports Network. [15:30 - 22:57]

"Steep price, but fair," he remarked. "The Red Sox were willing to trade some of their top-end prospect base, but not the very top of their prospect base. I think, because of that, they still have a pretty strong future outlook; by virtue of that, they still have Roman Anthony, Christian Campbell, and Marcelo Meyer, arguably three of the top prospects in baseball."

"Part of the reason why they have all three is because Crochet isn't Sale. Crochet was amazing last year. Crochet showed that he might be Sale, but he did not show that he is Chris Sale, because the track record has been different; the durability has been different," he continued. "He didn't have the solidity in the White Sox organization."

Chris Sale spent seven seasons with the White Sox before joining the Red Sox. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves at the start of this season after spending long periods on the IL in the latter part of his seven-year tenure with the team.

However, Sale recorded a Triple Crown with the Braves this season to win the first Cy Young Award of his career, despite making just over 30 starts in the previous four years.

Garrett Crochet and Chris Sale have had similar career progressions

Garrett Crochet joins he Red Sox after just one season as starting pitcher in the MLB (Image Source: Imagn)

In addition to being a left-handed starting pitcher, Garrett Crochet shares a few other similarities with Chris Sale. They were both selected in the first round by the Chicago White Sox and went on to make their major league debuts in the year they were drafted.

The similarities in their career progression continue with Crochet joining the Boston Red Sox eight years after Chris Sale.

Crochet earned his maiden call-up to the All-Star Game after being converted from a reliever at the start of the 2024 season. He recorded 209 strikeouts from just 146 innings, finishing the campaign with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.068 WHIP.