Chris Getz boosts White Sox’ rebuild, landing four prospects in Garrett Crochet trade with Red Sox

DALLAS – Chris Getz has officially jumpstarted the Chicago White Sox’ rebuild.

In a trade reminiscent of the deals Rick Hahn pulled off to power-up the previous rebuilding project on the South Side, Getz shipped staff ace Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox before the sand ran out on baseball’s Winter Meetings on Wednesday, netting a return package that includes a pair of players ranked by MLB.com as top-60 prospects.

Kyle Teel, a catcher ranked as the No. 25 prospect in baseball, and Braden Montgomery, an outfielder and recent first-round draft pick ranked as the No. 54 prospect in baseball, are the two biggest names in a four-prospect package.

Those two are ranked as the Nos. 4 and 5 prospects in a very deep Red Sox farm system, while the two other players included in the deal – infielder Chase Meidroth and right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez – rank as the Nos. 11 and 14 prospects in that organization.

[MORE SOX: Luis Robert Jr. has ‘gotten a lot of attention,’ White Sox say, but finding trade match seems unlikely]

Crochet being dealt this offseason was practically a foregone conclusion, with most expecting the White Sox to try to turn the ace of their starting rotation into prospects for the second winter in a row after Getz moved Dylan Cease to the Padres in March.

But the “when” was the big question, and though Crochet’s name was a popular one around the Winter Meetings, Getz showed little urgency to make a move this week. But after the Red Sox missed out in the sweepstakes for high-profile free agents Juan Soto and Max Fried, a trade came together just as baseball’s big offseason get together was wrapping up.

This quartet of youngsters joins a growing group of highly touted prospects in the White Sox’ system, with Teel and Montgomery combining with Noah Schultz, Colson Montgomery, Hagen Smith and Edgar Quero to put six guys on MLB.com’s top-100 list. It finally infuses some more position-player talent into the organization, as well, allowing fans to better project out some lineups of the future to go along with a much deeper group of pitching prospects.

As for when these young players might arrive on the South Side, the 23-year-old Meidroth might be the closest after playing 122 games at Triple-A last season, when he put up an .838 OPS and walked 105 times. The 22-year-old Teel also spent some time, though far less, at Triple-A, getting into 28 games at that level after putting up an .852 OPS in 84 games at Double-A.

Gonzalez, also 22, played exclusively at Double-A last season, turning in a 4.73 ERA and striking out 92 batters in 83.2 innings. The 21-year-old Montgomery was the No. 12 pick in June’s draft and didn’t see any professional action after joining the Red Sox’ organization following his time at Texas A&M.

In the end, coming almost exactly eight years after Hahn traded Chris Sale to these same Red Sox at the Winter Meetings, this deal is a jolt for Getz’s rebuilding project, much like that Sale trade was at the time. Compared to the return Getz got in March’s Cease trade, this prospect package looks far more impressive in terms of the caliber and volume of high-caliber players coming back to the White Sox.

Though having to ship away a promising and potentially elite pitcher like Crochet to better its long-term fortunes isn’t where a team wants to be, this strikes as an undoubtedly positive move when seen through the eyes of what Getz is attempting to accomplish with his long-term turnaround project.

Now it’s about applying the behind-the-scenes changes to these promising youngsters to achieve what Hahn’s rebuilding project could not: a White Sox team that contends on an annual basis. That will take time and much better injury luck, obviously. But this seems like a good start.

Get Our Best Sox Content In Your Inbox!Become a smarter Chicago White Sox fan with Vinnie Duber's Sox Newsletter!

Just drop your email below!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Sign Up Now!

51300