gin 2024, the Chicago White Sox are surefire sellers at the July 30 trade deadline. Starting pitcher Garrett Crochet will be a popular target among contenders hoping to bolster their pitching staff. Could the New York Yankees be a realistic destination for the 24-year-old left-hander?
As trade rumors swirl, Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer ranked the hurler’s top 10 landing spots and placed the Yankees eighth. “Garrett and Gerrit? That has a nice ring to it, and pairing Gerrit Cole with Crochet would allow the Yankees to steel their rotation against regression from its AL-leading 2.78 ERA,” he said.
Crochet missed the 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery. His 2023 campaign was limited to 12.2 innings because of multiple trips to the injured list. He’s healthy now, though, and the results have been excellent.
Despite playing for one of baseball’s worst teams, Crochet has compiled a 6-5 record with a 3.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 103 strikeouts in 75.2 innings pitched. After spending his first three seasons as a reliever, the White Sox have been using him exclusively as a starter. His value has increased so much that Rymer said he could be the “most desirable pitcher” on the trading block this summer.
Every MLB team could use more pitching. And since Crochet will likely be one of the most popular pitchers leading up to the deadline, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will likely at least check in to do his due diligence.
New York’s current rotation includes Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Cody Poteet, Nestor Cortes and Luis Gil, per FanGraphs’ Roster Resource. And then there’s staff ace Gerrit Cole, who is close to getting activated off the injury list. Gaining top-tier rotation depth by acquiring someone like Crochet is a worthy exercise for any team hoping to make a deep run into October. However, it doesn’t seem like a huge need for them.
Rymer also mentioned that unless New York has to deal with another pitching injury, upgrading the rotation probably isn’t the club’s top priority. But then again, maybe the Yankees view him as best served for their bullpen in the short term. While talking about potentially upgrading the right side of the Bombers’ infield on June 11, The Athletic’s Jim Duquette tossed that in as a possibility.
