Garrett Crochet Rumors: White Sox ready to part ways with star pitcher after losing 'optimism' of new deal, per insider
Garrett Crochet is having a career year with the Chicago White Sox this season, and the team has already tried to negotiate a new contract with him. However, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the White Sox have "no optimism" from the contract talks, and it seems Crochet is on his way out before the July 30 trade deadline.
With Crochet available on the trade block, as many as 15 teams have inquired about the star pitcher with the White Sox. They also include the Los Angeles Dodgers, who already proposed a deal that was "quickly rejected" by the White Sox.
The White Sox want to come out as winners from this deal as they seek to build a team for the future. They seek upside, given that Crochet will be under the team's control until the 2026 season and also that he's only earning $800,000 this season.
What's the downside to Garrett Crochet deal? Sox manager on his workload
There's some risk associated with Garrett Crochet, who has sneaked into the AL Cy Young conversation.
He missed the entire 2022 season to recover from Tommy John surgery and has only pitched 73.0 innings in the previous four years combined. This year, Crochet has eclipsed that mark, having thrown 101.1 innings. Moreover, he's now a starting pitcher, opposing his bullpen role from 2020–23.
In his report, Bob Nightengale reported that the White Sox and the pitcher have plans in place to limit his pitching workload. However, manager Pedro Grifol brushed off any such claims.
“It’s not something we’re going to put out and say, ’Here’s what we’re doing,’ because nothing in this game is black and white… He’s slowly detraining through the course of the year so he can finish the season,” Grifol said.
“We’re not going to detrain him and build him back to the capacity where he was at the start of the season. This is going downhill now. We have to really monitor his workload.” [via AP].
Garrett Crochet leads the majors in strikeouts (141), is third in WHIP (0.93) and is the leader in SO/9 (12.52). His ERA mark (3.02) is not among the top, but he could be a useful addition for any team that he gets traded to.