Garrett Crochet is swapping Sox.
The Boston Red Sox acquired the All-Star left-hander in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox, the team announced on Wednesday, giving them an ace a day after they lost out on Max Fried to the Yankees.
Crochet, 25, pitched to a 3.58 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 209 strikeouts in 146.0 innings in 2024 in his first MLB season as a starter. He remains under team control through 2026.
Wednesday’s trade cost the Red Sox four minor leaguers in catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez, according to The Athletic.
MLB Pipeline ranked Teel as Boston’s No. 4 prospect, Montgomery as No. 5, Meidroth as No. 12 and Gonzalez as No. 14.
Boston was willing to pay that hefty price to make the kind of big-name splash that had eluded them this offseason.
They were considered legitimate suitors for superstar slugger Juan Soto before he reached a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets and for the left-handed Fried before he agreed to an eight-year, $218 million pact with the Yankees.
The Red Sox have also been linked to right-handed starter Corbin Burnes, who remains a free agent and whose contract is expected to exceed Fried’s.
Armed with a fastball that averaged 97.2 mph, Crochet made 32 starts in 2024 after spending his first three MLB seasons as a reliever. That workload marked a successful return from Tommy John surgery that kept him out all of 2022 and most of 2023.
Originally drafted No. 11 overall in 2020, Crochet earned an All-Star selection on an otherwise historically bad White Sox team that set a dubious record with 121 losses.
Crochet was the subject of widespread speculation before the trade deadline, but the lefty’s desire for a contract extension in order to agree to pitch in the postseason complicated his situation.
He now slots atop a Red Sox rotation that also hopes to get back right-hander Lucas Giolito, who missed all of last season — his first with Boston — after undergoing elbow surgery.
Nick Pivetta, who went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA with the Red Sox last season, is a free agent, while Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford are all set to return.
Wednesday marked the second time in eight years that the Red Sox added an ace through a trade with the White Sox, having also done so for Chris Sale before the 2017 season.
Boston traded the oft-injured Sale to the Atlanta Braves last offseason, and the lanky left-hander delivered a resurgent season by leading the National League with 18 wins, a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts en route to his first-ever Cy Young Award.
The Red Sox have been among the more active MLB teams this offseason. In addition to their failed pursuits of Soto and Fried, the Red Sox signed former Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman to a one-year contract this month.
The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season. It was the fourth time in five years that Boston missed the playoffs, a stretch that has included three last-place finishes in the American League East.
