Garrett Crochet Hopes to Stay in Rotation, Wishes for Extension Before Throwing in October

Garrett Crochet of the White Sox has had a very unusual trajectory that makes him one of the most unique franchises. According to reports from Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, Crochet would like to stay in the starting role at the end of the year but clubs have concerns about how he will hold on. down the stretch. As he juggles his workload at an as-yet-undisclosed personal location, he is reportedly keen on a contract extension before he starts in October.

This is a situation that has been a long time coming, given the strange combination of the Crochet elite 2024 campaign and the lack of previous record. Back in 2018, he threw 63 2/3 innings of college football at Tennessee, then added another 65 innings the following year. In 2020, he missed some time with a sore shoulder and pitched just 3 1/3 innings before being shut down by the pandemic.

The Sox then selected him 11th overall in that summer’s draft. There were no minor league games that year because of the epidemic, but they called him up to the majors and he pitched six innings. With his light workload, they kept him in a relief role in 2021 and he threw 54 1/3 innings that year. Then Tommy John surgery ended his 2022 season and limited him to 25 innings in 2023: 12 2/3 in the majors and 12 1/3 minor league frames in his rehab assignment.

That left Crochet entering 2024 with 217 1/3 innings of legal action in his arm over a six-year span from 2018 to 2023. The 65 innings from his sophomore season in college was his single-year high and his career high as a professional was 54 1/3 innings of relief from 2021. It ignores the college age entirely and he only had 85 1/3 innings in the pros, majors and minors combined, coming into this year. He’s pitched just 25 total innings over the past two years.

Despite all that, the Sox have extended him as a starter this year and the results have been better than anyone expected. In 21 starts, he pitched 111 1/3 innings, the highest total of his professional career coming into a season. He allowed 3.07 earned runs per nine innings with a 35.4% strikeout rate, a 5.6% walk rate and a 46.1% ground ball rate.

Despite the limited number of innings, Crochet has actually been headed for free agency because of all that time spent on the injured list. He completed three years of service last year and qualified as an arbitrator. But because of all the time he missed, he saw his salary increase to $800K, just above this year’s league minimum of $740K. He will be able to increase his salary by using two more passes in arbitration before he is scheduled for the open market after the 2026 season.

Normally, a 25-year-old who has had a breakout as a bonafide ace wouldn’t be available on the trade market, but the Sox’s circumstances could allow it to happen. They are the worst this year, with a 27-77 record, easily the worst in baseball this season and tied for worst ever. It will take a lot of work for them to get back into contention and it may not happen within their window of Crochet control.

Signing him to an extension is possible but his immediate call-up means he is on the verge of free agency after his age-27 season. That puts him on track for a big free agent payday if he stays healthy for the next few years, so he might not want to give that up easily.

All these features have made Crochet seem available and there are many trade rumors. He has already been linked to the Padres and Dodgers with many other clubs potentially interested as well due to his performance, affordability and availability.

But hanging over all of this was the question of what the winning team could expect from Crochet on the floor. Given that he has worked so hard over his previous career, will he be able to continue starting all year? Would he need to be moved into a supporting role or shut down completely? Two more years of cheap control is obviously still attractive but teams will have questions about what’s left in 2024.

From Crochet’s perspective, it’s understandable that he might want the security of having an extension in place before the postseason arrives. Any club that lands him can hope to play a key role in a World Series run, either as a starter or reliever. Since he’s missed significant time due to Tommy John surgery and is currently pushing his arm in places it’s never been before, it makes sense that he’s thinking about a safety net. Crochet reportedly wants to continue starting, believing that is the best option for his long-term career. If any club wants to move him to a free or mixed role, he can ask for an extension first.

He wouldn’t have the strength to just decide to shut himself down, but at the same time, the theory club that found him would have an overwhelming interest with Crochet. Trading Crochet is already a long-term proposition with his two years of control, so any club that acquires him would naturally want to keep him happy and healthy for at least that long. Given his obvious talents, keeping him around long-term with an extension would also be attractive.

But negotiating contract extensions can be a tricky business and achieving something like that in a short period of time during an ongoing pennant race can be a challenge. That may be especially true in Crochet’s case, as all the unique circumstances of his work can make it difficult to quantify.

Perhaps all these problems reduce the chances of a trade meeting in the next few days. The White Sox don’t really need to trade him now, given his two years of club control. A trade in the off-season could even lead to a bigger buyer market, as the Sox won’t be limited to their current contenders. Waiting until the offseason would come with the risk of Crochet getting injured in the interim and they would be targeting two postseasons instead of three, but career/extension concerns could be a thing of the past if he can finish the season healthy. .

All in all, there are a lot of moving parts here and it should lead to a White Sox general manager Chris Getz spending a lot of time on the phone over the next few days. The circumstances surrounding Crochet are unprecedented, meaning there is no real framework for what is to come.