ATLANTA — Get ’em ready, get ’em paid, get ’em to stick around.
If only that were a White Sox mantra. Where’s Hawk Harrelson when you need him?
It’s naive, and probably a bit silly, to look at All-Star pitchers Garrett Crochet, Carlos Rodon and Chris Sale — former Sox first-round draft picks, all — and lament that they’re collecting checks from the Red Sox, Yankees and Braves, respectively, rather than tormenting the American League as rotation mates at Rate Field. Let’s do it anyway. It’s not as if Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who surely breaks into a Cheshire grin when he considers their combined $370 million contracts, is going to do it for us.
The Sox are represented at this All-Star gathering by starting pitcher Shane Smith, who made the AL squad in the less-than-grand tradition of even the most awful teams needing to send somebody. The presences of three long-lost Sox lefties, each of whom has dazzled in 2025, loom much larger.
Crochet, 10-4 with a 2.23 ERA, threw his first career shutout Saturday against the Rays, a 100-pitch, nine-strikeout gem that left him leading the majors in both innings (120⅓) and K’s (160) at the break. He chose not to pitch Tuesday night, prioritizing the red-hot Red Sox’ postseason hopes, and goes forward as the No. 1 threat to Tigers ace Tarik Skubal for the AL’s Cy Young award.
Boston fans are wild about Crochet, 26, who agreed to a six-year, $170 million extension in March after being acquired in exchange for a robust collection of prospects. No doubt, the thought of Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez all in White Sox uniforms together someday is pleasing to some in Chicago. Both sides are happy.
Crochet, not much of a gabber, lights up discussing the trade that rescued him from the abyss.
“Boston has been treating me great, as good as I could ask for, a true pro organization, and I’m really enjoying everything that’s going on behind the scenes as well,” he said. “Chicago is great and I loved my time there, but Boston very much matches up.”
Rodon, 10-4 with a 3.08 ERA, is coming off his own best start, eight scoreless innings, with eight punchouts, against the Cubs at Yankee Stadium. This is his third All-Star honor — with three different teams — since the Sox non-tendered him after the 2020 season, a decision he reflected on as a “slap in the face” in a conversation with the Sun-Times in 2023.
“The way I look at it now, it was a good slap in the face,” Rodon said. “It might have been disrespectful, but it was probably the best thing for me because it got me to where I am now. …
“Obviously, I bear the [Yankee] pinstripes now, which is a blessing.”
Carlos Rodon’s first half of 2025:
🔹 3.08 ERA
🔹 119.2 IP
🔹 135 KsAmerican League All-Star. pic.twitter.com/HzfHwDoH5d
— YankeesMuse (@YankeesMuse) July 12, 2025
Rodon, 32, was often injured with the Sox and had Tommy John surgery in 2019. He came back at the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and threw fewer than 10 innings before the playoffs arrived. In an ill-fated move, then-manager Rick Renteria went with Rodon out of the bullpen in the decisive Game 3 of the divisional round against the A’s, and shortly thereafter Rodon was a man without a team.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Sox ended up signing him to a $3 million deal for 2021, when Rodon — still stung and feeling slighted — threw a no-hitter and became an All-Star for the first time. That landed him $22 million from the Giants in 2022, and he was an All-Star again as his former team stumbled and bumbled. Then came the huge score: $162 million for six years with the Yankees.
“It’s been five years, to be exact, since they non-tendered me,” he said. “[To have done] all this since means a lot. And the story’s still not over.”
Reigning NL Cy Young winner Sale, 36, remained in peak form over his first 15 starts, going 5-4 with a 2.52 ERA. He’ll be stuck there for quite some time, though, after breaking a rib diving for a grounder and landing on the 60-day injured list.
Nearly a decade ago, the Sox, in full-on rebuild mode, received quite the seeming haul from the Red Sox in exchange for Sale, an elite starter in his prime. Did Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech live up to the hype on the South Side? No need to answer. At least the Sox avoided what would have been the inevitable — not paying Sale what he was worth and incurring the wrath of fans because of it.
Crochet, the Sox’ most talented pitcher since Sale, was a reliever in 2021, a season that ended disappointingly in a lopsided playoff series against the Astros.
“Man, we had a really good club,” he said. “We had [93] wins and it felt like we should have had more.”
From where the Sox sit today, 93 wins likely is beyond the extent of their imaginations. What could have been, though, on the starting pitching front? We’ll never know.