Report: Garrett Crochet A “Viable” Candidate For The Cincinnati Reds

This morning Jon Morosi, who I would consider well plugged inside the Reds organization when it comes down to it, stated that two NL Central teams are the “viable candidates” for the LHP ACE Garrett Crochet. Over the summer I wrote about how Garrett Crochet would make a ton of sense for the Reds.

What does this even mean, Jon?

To me, this reads that the two teams have had preliminary discussions on a trade deal for Garrett Crochet. Garrett is under contract for two more seasons, very cheap for ’25, and likely for 2026 as well. In 2025, he’ll make an estimated $3M per spotrac. That fits extremely well for the Cincinnati Reds who have a plethora of talent, arm talent at that, that they can trade from.

Garret’s 2024 was immense – he made 32 starts, though on close watch due to previous arm injury, threw 146.0 innings and struckout 209. Yes. TWO HUNDRED AND NINE K’s. He had a 3.58 ERA, 2.69 FIP, and only walked 2.0 per 9 compared to 12.9 Ks. Just an incredible year in limited innings. So you can imagine…that ask has to be astronomical, right? Yes.

What will it take to land Crochet?

I wrote last summer about acquiring Garret Crochet here and I suggested that the Reds go for the GRAND SLAM and get Luis Robert Jr with Crochet. I still think they should do just that, especially trying to “buy low” on Robert Jr. The White Sox really have no idea what he’s even worth at this point, feels like a perfect time to go add in an additional prospect and pull both back.

I believe Crochet is worth at least 1 top 100 prospect by himself, easily, someone like Rhett Lowder, someone like Chase Burns. Yes – that’s what it’ll cost. So let’s try to be fair and reasonable when coming to the table on something like this.

Reds go for it all and land Luis & Garrett from Chicago

What the Cincinnati Reds Get

OF Luis Robert Jr.

LHP Garrett Crochett

What the Chicago White Sox Get

INF Sal Stewart

RHP Chase Petty

LHP Andrew Abbott

IF Ricardo Cabrera

OF Will Benson

Maybe the Reds don’t want Luis Robert Jr, & just want Crochet

What the Cincinnati Reds Get

LHP Garrett Crochett

What the Chicago White Sox Get

LHP Andrew Abbott

3B Cam Collier

OF Will Benson

I don’t see the White Sox getting a better offer for him. It makes perfect sense for them, too, because Andrew Abbott is a total bulldog, offers them a replacement for way longer (he doesn’t fit FA until 2030) and Chicago has a bigger ballpark than us. Honestly, the more I sit and type this out, I feel like I’m pitching to myself to keep Abbott. If it means we get Crochet back, I’ll be fine with dealing him. This would be a haul for the White Sox, IMO.