Revisiting the Garrett Crochet Trade Then and Now: Who Won the Blockbuster?

It’s now early June, so it’s coming up on a year and a half from the best recent trade for the Boston Red Sox . On December 11th, 2024, the Red Sox made a deal with the Chicago White Sox to acquire ace Garrett Crochet . Crochet would later become the Red Sox ace and be a major contributor to Boston’s first playoff appearance since 2021.

In return, the Red Sox sent a group of prospects to Chicago who already have been or will be key to the turnaround of the franchise. Two years ago, the South Siders finished with one of the worst records in baseball history. Two seasons later, in 2026, they’ve already achieved 32 wins and a game and a half back of the lead in the American League Central. Let’s discuss the trade and how it’s turned out thus far.

Chicago White Sox Receive: Kyle Teel , Braden Montgomery , Chase Meidroth , and Wikelman Gonzalez

Crochet was coming off an oddly successful season for the worst team in modern baseball history. Despite a 6-12 record (his six wins were the second most on the team), he struck out 209 batters in 146 innings. This was coming in his first year, where he stayed fully healthy, following injury-riddled 2022 and 2023 seasons. This would result in Crochet winning AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2024, as well as an All-Star appearance.

Post-trade, Crochet fit in seamlessly with the Red Sox. He went 18-5 while striking out 255 batters in 2025, putting up a 2.59 ERA as well as a 6.0 WAR. The runner-up in the Cy Young race also had 25 quality starts (six innings or more) in his 32 appearances. He was absolutely dominant in his Red Sox debut season. The Red Sox were also great in his starts, going 23-9 in his games. Even in the Wild Card Series, which the Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees , he had a stellar start, going 7 2/3 innings, striking out 11, and only letting up one run.

Unfortunately, his 2026 campaign hasn’t had the same results. The worst start of his career came this season, against the Minnesota Twins . In this start, he let up 11 runs in just 1 ⅔ innings. He has also not been as present due to a left shoulder inflammation injury . The Red Sox pitching staff is doing very well in his absence, however. So when he comes back from the injury, he should be able to contribute heavily to an already good staff.

Before the trade, Teel was seen as one of the next big players in the Red Sox minor league system, being listed as one of the “ Big Three ” along with Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony , and for good reason. The catcher was dominant in college with Virginia and had begun to work his way up the Red Sox system quickly. He had made it to Triple A a little over a year after being drafted. The former first-round pick had ascended up into the top 40 in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects of ‘24 and was the highlight of this trade.

After joining the White Sox, he made his MLB debut on June 6th, 2025. He had a pretty solid rookie year, hitting .273 with eight homers and 35 RBI. Unfortunately, like Crochet, he has had an injury-filled sophomore season, originally being ruled out for four to six weeks, then shut down for the foreseeable future with an LCL sprain in his right knee.