The Boston Red Sox are rumored to be one of the most aggressive teams in the league this winter in terms of pursuing talent. The team is being forced to try to keep pace with the loaded American League East. Boston could improve in almost every facet of the game.
One way or another, almost every insider and mind around baseball believes Boston will add an ace. Even if it comes in a trade.
Anthony Castrovince pitched a trade idea on MLB Network that would give Boston the ace it's been looking for. But it would come at quite a steep price. Boston would be acquiring Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, but the Red Sox would be trading multiple key pieces.
Here's the full trade pitched by Castrovince:
Boston Red Sox receive: LHP Garrett Crochet
Chicago White Sox receive: 1B Triston Casas, OF Braden Montgomery (No. 5 prospect), SS Yoeilin Cespedes (No. 7 prospect), RHP David Sandlin (No. 10 prospect)
The first thing to note is that Crochet to Boston makes a lot of sense. He's somebody that Boston will likely pursue, but if it comes at the price in the trade proposal above, I'd imagine Boston would be out.
Casas is a 24-year-old first baseman who already proved in 2023 that he could hit big-league pitching. Boston may want to move him for good value while replacing him with an even better bat, but let it be known that he's an incredibly valuable piece.
Montgomery, Boston's 2024 first-round pick, is the 54th-ranked prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. Trading him before he's gotten a real chance at professional baseball would be an uncharacteristically bold move.
Cespedes is a 19-year-old with loads of talent as well. He's crushed rookie ball pitching and he's still a teenager.
Sandlin is the only piece of this deal that doesn't have future All-Star written all over him. Still, he packs a lot of untapped potential.
I write all of this to say that this deal would be a severe overpay for the Red Sox. With Cespedes on the brink of being a top 100 prospect himself, the Red Sox couldn't move Montgomery, Cespedes, Sandlin, and the big league-proven Casas in this deal. It just wouldn't make sense.
If that's the price on Crochet, Boston would be better off giving Max Fried an extra $20 million in free agency and calling it a day.
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