DALLAS — The Red Sox made their first major splash of the offseason Wednesday, acquiring starter Garrett Crochet from the White Sox for a four-prospect packaged highlighted by recent first round picks Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery. In adding Crochet, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow got his likely Opening Day starter and someone who is expected to lead the Sox’ rotation for at least the next two years.
After losing out on top free agents Juan Soto and Max Fried, Breslow turned to the trade market for the biggest splash of his tenure so far. And even after pulling the trigger on the deal, there’s still work to be done. Speaking before departing Dallas at the end of baseball’s Winter Meetings, Breslow said that he’s still aggressively pursuing ways to upgrade Boston’s roster — including looking at more rotation pieces.
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“I think we came here a few days ago thinking we needed to improve our rotation,” Breslow said. “If we exclusively looked down one path, I think we’d be closed off from other options. I think that’s still the case. There’s still really good players and really good starting pitchers left on the free agent market. And there are still conversations we’re having with teams on trade targets.
“We’re going to continue to explore and be aggressive and identify opportunities to continue to improve. That was always the plan when we got here and we feel really good about adding Garrett to the rotation. We’re also going to continue to try to find ways to improve. We’ll also continue to be mindful of trying to add to the relief group. Still trying to balance out the lineup and find a right-handed bat. Probably looking at the catching position behind Connor (Wong) becomes even more important. We’ve got a lot of work still to do.”
The Red Sox now project to have Crochet as their No. 1 starter with homegrown righties Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck and veteran Lucas Giolito also in their starting five. Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts and Quinn Priester are in the mix as depth options. The group is crowded — and much deeper — with Crochet in tow. But another rotation add can’t be ruled out.
Top free agent Corbin Burnes remain unsigned and the Red Sox have been involved in his market. Veterans Jack Flaherty, Sean Manaea, Andrew Heaney, Nick Pivetta, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Walker Buehler and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki remain available, too. The trade market boasts names like Seattle’s Luis Castillo and others and the Red Sox have held talks with the Mariners and other clubs. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier shot down a rumor that Boston could look to move first baseman Triston Casas in a one-for-one swap for Castillo on Wednesday but the Red Sox continue to attempt to balance out their organization by flipping position player talent for arms.
“I think we’re going to go out and try to bring in the best pitcher that we can,” Breslow said. “I don’t know that it makes a ton of sense to label a number around him because the best opportunity we have to add to the rotation means we’re going to win more games. We’re going to be open-minded about that.”
Adding another top arm could make someone like Crawford or Houck expendable in trade talks for other parts of the roster. A depth move would provide insulation in case of injury. The bullpen could still use a high-octane piece, potentially from the right side, even after the additions of veteran lefties Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson. Tyler O’Neill’s production from the right side needs to be replaced by Teoscar Hernández, Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman or another available slugger. And a catching move is on the table now that Kyle Teel, who was thought to be likely to take over at the position, was the centerpiece of the Crochet trade. Connor Wong remains the incumbent but the Red Sox could look to shake up that position further or simply add a backup. (UPDATE: Boston added to its catching mix late Wednesday, acquiring 26-year-old backstop Carlos Narvaez from the Yankees for minor league pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international slot money).
“We’re obviously going to need more depth,” Breslow said. “We’ll explore all paths to doing that. I think we can think about both the near-term and long-term. But given Connor’s still got plenty of control, he’s going to wear a Red Sox uniform for a long time. We feel like for at least now we’ve got a starting catcher.”
Breslow’s big splash came after teams like the Mets (Soto) and Yankees (Fried) made major moves while in Dallas. As he left town, he recognized the importance of being willing to pounce after the conclusion of the Meetings.
“Each of these decisions is this weird balance of interconnected and related in that when somebody goes off the board, it might cause a team or player to pivot a little bit,” he said. “At the same time, I think there are unique situations that surround all of them. We’re ready, we’re prepared and we’ve got a number of targets we’ve identified. We just have to figure out a way to execute on them.”
“It’s really important, and I’ve said this before, that we run our own race. It’s important we operate on our own timeline.”
