The Red Sox Dodged a MAJOR Bullet 

The Boston Red Sox dodged a major bullet. Based off brand new information, we have an idea of what the Chicago White Sox were originally looking for in exchange for Southpaw pitcher and Garrett Crochet. We'll break down all of the new information that we have and simply how the Boston Red Sox not only got Garrett Crochet, but did a damn good job at doing so. We'll break down all of that on this episode of Red Sox Digest, but first remember to scroll down and click that subscribe button as nearly 90% of you guys watching this video are not currently subscribed to the channel. We do appreciate all the love and support as you guys have been killing it as of late, helping us hit our most recent goal of 4,000 subscribers, so thank you guys so very much. But now let's get to it and break down really just how great of a trade this was for the Boston Red Sox and looking back at the Garrett Crochet deal. Now, when this trade originally took place, there was a lot of speculation. There was a lot of conversation amongst Red Sox Nation because of what was given up in exchange for Garrett Crochet. Now looking back at it, there are no questions. Garrett Crochet has turned into the guy everyone wanted him to be in Boston and that is the number one guy in the starting rotation, the dominant ace that the Red Sox know they can lean on whenever his fourth or fifth day comes around because he is simply gross. And if you don't believe me, if you think that guy Tarek Skubal from the Detroit Tigers is pretty damn good, here's a comparison of the last, what, 13 starts for each of these guys, last 14 starts for Crochet, last 13 starts for Tarek Skubal. Garrett Crochet is up there with the best pitchers in all of baseball, whether it's Skubal, whether it's Skeens, whether it's Zach Wheeler, it does not matter the name you would put next to him. Garrett Crochet is in that conversation because of how great he has been up to this point. If you compare him to Skubal, Skubal's 10-3 this year with 121 innings pitched in a 2.23 ERA with 163 or 153 strikeouts in comparison to Crochet who's 10-4 with 129.1 or 129 in a third's innings pitch with exact same ERA at 2.23 and 160 strikeouts. Crochet is answering the call and just because he's not getting the same limelight as someone like Tarek Skubal because he won the Cy Young last year and the Tigers are the number one team in the AL, Crochet is still just right along the same level as someone like Skubal. Crochet is doing the thing, he was just an all-star for this Red Sox team, one of the many with Chapman and Bregman and it was well-deserved. He's one of the best pitchers in baseball, he's most likely going to lead the entirety of the MLB in strikeouts, something we discussed on this channel pre-season and it's really just all coming to fruition and it's really really awesome to see. But for now, what did the White Sox want in return? Well, this is a tweet that we learned today or yesterday I should say yesterday afternoon with great insight on WEEI today saying how the Red Sox tried to get Crochet last deadline and the asking price was Meyer and Anthony. If you don't know that's Marcelo Meyer and Roman Anthony and at the time of this past deadline that is the number one prospect in all of baseball, the number one guy in the Red Sox farm system as well as the number two guy in the Red Sox farm system in Meyer and Anthony. That was a king's ransom and then some. If the Red Sox would have ended up making this trade, we would be looking back now and we would all be burning the city of Boston down to the ground. We would be just destroying Fenway trying to get to Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy and the rest of that front office because this trade, if that would have actually happened, that would have turned the entire Red Sox organization upside down and on its head. Yes, they would be great with Crochet but they would not have the two young guys that are currently large, large pieces to this Red Sox team and there's no way around it. Marcelo Meyer has been simply phenomenal with great versatility on the defensive end while also maintaining good presence at the plate. He can play third, he can play short, he can play second. There's even conversations of him playing first base. Meyer is a great defensive option for this Boston Red Sox team as we have watched him play as a starter as well as being platooned in these games, especially as of late. He's been great. He really and truly has been and he's still so very young, only being 22 years of age and with such great upside, I can't wait to see him continue to progress. And then there's obviously the number one prospect in all of baseball in Roman Anthony. Now, when he was called up, obviously the hype was real. He was getting a lot of attention and it was really, it was warranted. He was the number one ranked prospect in all of baseball for a long time and everyone was excited and itching at the bit to watch this kid play professional baseball and meaningful baseball for the Boston Red Sox. It just, everyone was chewing at the bit and didn't know when he was actually going to get his chance as well as these other guys like Meyer and Campbell, except we know Campbell started the season because of the problems at second base, but then you had Meyer and Anthony and you just, everyone wanted to see these guys on the professional stage. They just didn't know when we were going to be able to see that chance. Obviously, it finally has come around and Roman has been the most mature 21-year-old professional baseball player I think I've ever been able to watch with my own two eyes consistently as he, he's just different. If you look at him at the plate, obviously in the field in his first open games, we know how that took place. He missed the ball when right underneath his glove rolled all the way to the right field wall. There's a few rookie moments without a doubt, but at the plate, yes, he started just a bit slow, but if you look at his at bat and you watch his at bat, he's taking pitches, he's working counts, he's hitting the baseball ungodly hard and yes, he has not qualified for his baseball savant page yet for really anything, defense included, but look at where he sits in the averages up to this point and I understand he has not qualified yet, but he's doing a lot of things above league average and a lot of them are running hand-in-hand in the sense of chase rate, squared up rate, bat speed, base on balls percentage. These things are correlating and they're way above league averages, if you will, and high percentiles because he is so mature in the batter's box. He has the ability to take pitches, work counts, and when he gets a pitch to hit, he doesn't really, he doesn't miss and he's able to square up the baseball, make hard hit contact, he's able to place it into a gap or over someone's head and he's able to get around the bases and it's a joy to watch. I'm so happy that the Boston Red Sox were able to go out and make a trade like this, giving up Kyle Thiel, who was a switch hitting catcher at the time, someone with a lot of upside, as well as Braden Montgomery, another very highly touted prospect in this Red Sox farm system, that was without a doubt, just no debate, the most, the one with the most depth in the entirety of the MLB. Once this trade was made or right before this trade was made, obviously they gave up a good amount of prospects. Also, Chase Meredith, who we've seen play for the Red Sox up to this point in the year and be pretty damn good, he actually hit a home run against this Boston Red Sox team just earlier this year. Overall, a home run of a trade. Yes, the Red Sox gave up a lot of prospects, they gave up a lot of young guys, but they did not give up the two main guys that are going to transform this organization, not only now, but for the next 8 to 10 to 12 years, where they are really going to fully develop and become their own players. Now, Crochet, up to this point in the year, is having a breakout all-star type of year, obviously was just named an all-star, didn't actually play in the game, but he was in the dugout, he was a participant in the sense that he was there, and he was actually boots on the ground. But if you look at this baseball savant page, if you look at the numbers like we broke down earlier, in comparison to Tarek Schuble, someone who is really known as the best pitcher in all baseball, right next to Paul Skeens, Garrett Crochet is not really in that conversation in the sense of national media stages, but if you look at the stats and you look at his baseball savant page, there's not a lot of guys better than Garrett Crochet in the MLB right now. Top of the leagues in every statistical category, and he simply is fantastic. He has been the trend in the right direction for this Boston Red Sox team. And the last thing we are going to discuss, and I think it's the biggest conversation we have to have, outside of where the Red Sox currently sit in the AL, and with them continuing to win as we host the, or excuse me, the Red Sox are in Chicago against the Cubs today for their first game post-All-Star break, which is going to be a big, big checkmark because they have one of the hardest schedules going forward in the second half of the season, and they open with the Chicago Cubs who are no rollover a team. But it's the conversation about Garrett Crochet and the money in which he's currently being paid. We had this conversation in the springtime when I threw out the idea that Crochet has a good chance to lead the league in strikeouts because the amount of innings he's going to be pitching and just the difference in games that he's going to be in, in comparison to when he was with Chicago with the horrible White Sox. He's now going to have a lot of run support. He's going to be able to attack these guys and go right at these hitters, and that's exactly what he's doing as he's tops of when it comes to strikeouts. Not only does he have filthy stuff, but when he's throwing right at you, it has the ability to just tunnel these pitches and throw strikes and then pair it with balls that are nowhere near the strike zone with that back foot slider to right-handed hitters or just, again, that cutter up and in. They don't have a chance, and that is what we're seeing. We've had this conversation, not only me but the other creators on this channel. Pay Garrett Crochet. If you don't do it now, you're going to have to do it later. If you have to do it later, you're going to have to give him a King's Ransom because he knows what he's playing for. He knows if he goes out there and dominates, he's going to have a 30-team market this offseason where everyone is just jumping at him, trying to pay him as much money as humanly possible to make him hit their one or their two, depending on who's already there in that rotation. I'm so glad the Red Sox went out and extended Garrett Crochet from 2026 to 2031. If you look at it now, he's the 96th ranked starting pitcher in the sense of payroll. He's being paid $3.8 million this year. That's not a joke. This year, he's getting paid $3.8 million. The Red Sox did a damn good job at going out and acquiring Crochet for the package in which they not giving up Roman Anthony, not giving up Meyer, and holding on to Crochet in the form of an extension that, again, granted, six years, $170 million. He's earned every penny and we're not even eight months into his tenure here in Boston. Just think of what would happen if he was not extended up to this point. It wouldn't be $170 million, I can promise you that. It would be closer to $240 million or $250 million. It would be Yamamoto numbers or Blake Snell numbers like the Dodgers have given out in this past year or two. A plus job by the Boston Red Sox. A plus job by Craig Breslow. Something we're not accustomed to saying on this channel as he usually gets a lot of the blame. But again, thank you guys for watching. Let me know down below what your overall thoughts and opinions are on this actual idea and the fact that the Red Sox did not just flat out get robbed in this situation and they were able to make a major trade that ended up working out greatly for them and hopefully for the next 10 to 15 years for this Red Sox team. Thank you guys for watching. I will see you guys on the next one.