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Heads up: From Max Fried’s deal to yesterday’s Garrett Crochet trade on down to other trades, signings, rumors and the Rule 5 draft, the hot stove has been scalding this week, so even the links section is chock-full of big news. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Big Deals: Garrett Crochet to Red Sox
Perhaps the second-biggest question of the winter has been resolved: Garrett Crochet was traded yesterday. Following in the career path of another lefty starter with big strikeout numbers and a punnable name, Crochet went from one Sox to the other, going to Boston for a return of four prospects, including catcher Kyle Teel (more on that in Ken’s section).
Crochet’s departure from the White Sox has been near the top of the storylines in the sport since before the trade deadline earlier this year. Chicago opted not to trade the 25-year-old with a career 3.29 ERA then — even though the Phillies thought they were close — but it was widely expected that this would happen eventually. Once Max Fried signed with the Yankees (which we’ll get to in a second), Crochet’s trade became one of baseball’s more pressing matters.
Sure, there are other starting pitchers available, but with this year’s free-agent market trending toward players outpacing their projected deals, the trade market seems like it might be the more affordable route. For the Red Sox, the remaining “ace” options were Crochet, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki — the latter two of whom are still free agents.
For the White Sox, it was yet another piece of what has been a fairly comprehensive gutting of the old infrastructure. Here’s the insider story on how the trade went down.
Ken’s Notebook: Evaluating the White Sox’s return
From my latest notes column from the Winter Meetings:
Every trade for prospects is a risk. Skepticism about the Red Sox’s “next big things” is warranted. Still, the initial industry response to the White Sox’s four-player haul for Crochet seemed positive. Certainly more positive than the reaction to their return for Michael Kopech, righty Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham in a three-team deal at the deadline — outfielder Miguel Vargas and minor-league infielders Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus.
Catcher Kyle Teel, one of Boston’s “Big Four” prospects, was the headliner. Left-handed hitting catchers do not come along often. Teel, 22, routinely draws praise for his makeup and athleticism. Working with new White Sox bench coach Walker McKinven, who developed a reputation as a catching whisperer with the Milwaukee Brewers, should help Teel refine his game-calling and other defensive skills.
Outfielder Braden Montgomery, the 12th pick in the 2024 draft, is a high-upside play, a switch hitter one evaluator described as a physical freak. Another evaluator said Montgomery is so promising, the “Big Four” actually should have been considered a “Big Five.” Both evaluators were granted anonymity for their candor.
Infielder Chase Meidroth, 23, is sort of the opposite of Montgomery, a high-floor player who at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds doesn’t necessarily look the part. One Red Sox official said Meidroth lacks big tools, but is versatile and a coach’s dream. Another said, “Keep an eye on him.” A third said he might be in the White Sox infield for the next 10 years.
Right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez, the one pitcher in the deal, led the minors in strikeout rate in 2023 before regressing in ’24, his age-22 season. If everything clicks, he could be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.
More here.
New York, New York: Max Fried to Yankees
Another edition of The Windup, another record free-agent deal by a team from New York. This time, it was the Yankees, who pivoted from Juan Soto to sign Max Fried to the biggest contract ever (among left-handed pitchers), eight years and $218 million.
Fried, who turns 31 in January, has spent his eight-year big-league career with the Braves, going 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA in 168 games (151 starts). That tenure includes two top-five NL Cy Young finishes, three Gold Gloves, two All-Star appearances and — back when this was a thing — a Silver Slugger award in 2021, when he hit a respectable .273/.322/.327 (.649 OPS).
2019 was Fried’s first full season in the big leagues, and his 71 wins in those six years are the second-most of any starting pitcher, trailing only new teammate Gerrit Cole (79-33). They also rank 1-2 in ERA over that time (min. 800 innings), with Cole at 2.98 and Fried at 3.06.
That’s a pretty potent top of the rotation for a Yankees team that went to the World Series last season. Other starters currently include Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes Jr., Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman (though it’s possible that the Yankees could now deal one of them).
Of course, the 2025 Yankees will be missing one major component of last year’s squad: Fried is the big pivot — or perhaps just the first big pivot — after the team came in second in the Juan Soto sweepstakes. The Yankees (and Mets, for that matter) were also in on Crochet before the Red Sox landed the southpaw.
Rumblings: Will Astros trade Tucker?
Maybe the biggest rumor from this week: Seeing the size of Juan Soto’s contract — and recognizing that Houston’s farm system is in need of a big upgrade — the Astros may be willing to trade OF Kyle Tucker, who is set to hit free agency after the 2025 season.
But this is more than a simple team-may-be-open-to-trading-player rumor. Yesterday, Chandler Rome and Ken paired up to report that there have been discussions between the Astros and Cubs on a deal that would send Tucker to Chicago in exchange for OF Seiya Suzuki or 3B Isaac Paredes (though it’s unlikely that both would be included in the same trade).
If it ends up being Paredes, you could assume that’d scuttle any thought that the trade would be to make space to re-sign Alex Bregman. But Paredes could also play first base, which has been a black hole in Houston of late. Whatever the case, the Astros’ willingness to make Tucker — and perhaps LHP Framber Váldez — available signals the team’s plan moving forward, says Chandler.
If it’s not the Cubs, Tucker could go elsewhere. Ken and Chandler also mention the Yankees, who could potentially include Gil — last year’s AL Rookie of the Year — now that Fried is in the fold. But as Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney point out … the Cubs would make a lot of sense.
We’ll keep you posted.
Handshakes and High Fives
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(Top photo: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)
