LAS VEGAS — Not much has gone right for White Sox general manager Chris Getz since becoming the head man in charge.
He oversaw the dismantling of the previous rebuild, a team that had the worst record in the modern era and a Sox club coming off its third consecutive 100-loss season.
Entering last offseason, the Sox were devoid of young talent with years of club control but possessed a left-handed All-Star brimming with upside. So Getz orchestrated a trade to send Crochet to the Red Sox for prospects Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez.
When trading for young players, there’s inherent risk. It’s impossible to gauge how players will develop, let alone reach the majors. But the Sox were confident in the upside of the players they acquired. But a year later — after Crochet finished second in American League Cy Young voting, and Teel and Meidroth showed promise in the majors — Getz is pleased with the return.
“Candidly, they’re maybe even a little bit better than we even thought, Getz said at the general managers meetings.
“It’s got a chance to be even better than we anticipated, quite honestly. To be able to get the impact we did this year with [Meidroth, Gonzalez and Tell]. positive impacts. They’re also just scratching the surface. And the continued development and blooming of Braden, it’s got a good chance to be a really special deal.”
After watching Crochet post a 2.59 ERA and lead the league in innings pitched, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow isn’t exactly upset with his end of the trade.
“That may be a deal that works out for both sides,” Breslow told the Sun-Times. “Talking to Chris, he’s happy about the guys that he got and the steps forward that they’ve taken developmentally, and some of those guys — whether it’s Chase or Kyle — contributing to their big team. And it would be hard for us to have imagined Garrett’s first season here going any better.”
Now, there’s a lot of time left to determine who will win the trade. Boston easily came out on top when the Sox traded Chris Sale to Boston and the prospects the Sox acquired — headlined by Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech — failed to make a substantial impact in the majors and watched as their development stall out.
Ensuring the continued development of Teel, Meidroth and Montgomery is of the utmost importance for the organization.
Teel, in particular, showed impressive flashes, batting .273/.375/.411 with a .786 OPS and improved defensively as the season progressed. Montgomery is tearing up the Arizona Fall League, and a debut next season isn’t too out of the question — Getz said that he knows Montgomery can play in the majors next season — and Meidroth showed impressive bat-to-ball skills and held his own at second base.
Surrounding the young players with the right voices is partly why the Sox targeted hitting coach Derek Shomon and pitching coach Zach Bove. Both of them have experience working with young players at their prior stops in Miami and Kansas City, respectively.
Boston’s success in scouting and player development is one that the Sox could look to emulate, and it starts with creating a strong infrastructure.
“We wanted to surround them with folks that do a really, really good job connecting with them to create really lofty expectations for them and challenge them, but then really support them on their journeys,” said Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who was vice president of amateur scouting and player development with the Red Sox.
For the trade to work out on the Sox’ side, they need to continue pouring into the young players to avoid the pitfalls that doomed the prior rebuild. The foundation of this rebuilding effort hinges on the success of the Crochet trade.