The reality of Garrett Crochet – White Sox rotation ace left-hander, pitcher staff leader, Opening Day All-Star starter – being outta here has set in.
Days after Crochet was shipped off to the Red Sox for four prospects on the last day of the winter meetings, the Sox were left with no clear-cut Opening Day starter or set rotation in mind coming off a modern-day record 121-loss season. The trade was about 2026 and beyond, but you have to wonder if the 2025 roster will march to the same beat of the bleak, record-stalking drudgery that unfolded this summer.
In the face of falling attendance and revenues, nobody expects Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to write significant checks for players who could take a significant chunk out of that 2024 loss total. General manager Chris Getz’ initiatives to alter infrastructure, upgrade intel and plug in new staff including first-year manager Will Venable are noble and smart. But who is going to predict anything better than a third straight 100 loss season, especially if 2023 All-Star center fielder Luis Robert follows Crochet out the door?
“Obviously wins and losses matter, and we’ll all be judged on that,” Venable said when asked how success could be quantified in his first season. “Also it’s about our players and did we support them to get better? Did they get better and continue to develop?
“Then did we do the things internally with our infrastructure and our systems and processes to set us up for success in the future, too? There’s a lot of work being done behind the scenes. So I think all those are fair measures of our success.”
The Crochet deal was viewed by Getz and most industry voices as a success, to the extent such trades can be judged when prospects are involved. Talent evaluators are high on left-handed hitting catcher Ryan Teel and see him as a big leaguer in 2025. And right fielder Braden Montgomery likely would have been a top three pick this year had he not broken his ankle in the NCAA super regionals.
“Montgomery is the pivotal guy that will determine the trade’s value,” one evaluator said. “If he becomes an above average right fielder that’s a good player and the trade is fine.”
“As an organization you do the best you can,” another talent evaluator said. “They had to move Crochet. No point in having him.”
Without him, the starting rotation shapes up in December, in no particular order, as perhaps Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin, Drew Thorpe, Sean Burke, Ky Bush, an affordable veteran free agent and who knows who else. Getz mentioned Rule 5 pick Shane Smith from the Brewers organization, the top selection in the draft Wednesday, as well as Jairo Iriarte. Seventeen different pitchers made starts in 2024, and Crochet (32 starts), Chris Flexen (30) and Erick Fedde (21) will all be gone unless Flexen, a free agent, happens to re-sign.
The Sox’ young pitching is viewed as the organization’s strength. But then there’s the offense, which ranked last in almost every significant category this season and will likely have no significant sluggers coming in from outside.
It could be another long year.
“If they move Robert as well, how many games do they win?” one former executive said.
Perhaps Venable and his staff, with 35-year-old Walker McKinven on board from the Brewers as his bench coach, can raise the bar for a winning culture as players develop and while Getz seeks to make more deals to spruce up the farm system and collection of young major league talent.
“We have such a strong process working right now,” Getz said. “There are areas you’re looking and working to improve. It starts with the identification and acquisition process and then you start to work on the development part of all this, which is certainly vital. But I keep pointing back to the infrastructure we’ve been building committed to really strengthening the foundation of this organization. It really gives you confidence that you’re going to get the most out of these players.”
How it translates into actual wins, only time will tell.
This much is certain: It’s going to take some time.