Garrett Crochet has ‘no comment’ on reported extension requirement as trade deadline nears

Garrett Crochet had “no comment” Friday as reports dotted the internet describing the Chicago White Sox ace’s apparent insistence that he receive a contract extension if he’s going to pitch in the postseason for any team acquiring him in a potential trade prior to Tuesday’s deadline.

“In terms of that, it kind of just is what it is,” Crochet said. “Right now, I’m focused on pitching for the White Sox. And beyond that, I’m not really controlling much.”

Asked to confirm or deny the report, Crochet said: “No comment. Right now I’m just focused on pitching for the White Sox.“

That, intentionally or not, said plenty — not that any of it was bad. Crochet seems to be getting almost universal praise for his camp’s supposed stance, now reported by all the usual suspects covering the sport nationally.

In his first year as a big league starting pitcher and making a huge jump from 74 career innings as a reliever — and practically back-to-back missed seasons while recovering from injury — to that of a workhorse at the top of a rotation, the big lefty reportedly wants some insurance if he’s to stretch his campaign into October. That’s being viewed, it seems widely, as plenty reasonable considering the potential effects on his health and his future earnings.

If all those reports, to go along with a hefty dose of common sense, are to be believed, then the likelihood of Crochet departing the South Side in the coming days is nowhere close to what many assumed it was, when the All-Star southpaw was listed as the best starting pitcher on this summer’s trade market.

[MORE SOX: In his own words: How Garrett Crochet became an All Star]

Indeed, it seemed, from this angle anyway, that a deal might have been difficult. The White Sox surely value Crochet for what he’s been this year: arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Throw in two seasons of control past 2024, and Crochet would figure to command a massive haul. But the uncertainty of what he can actually contribute for a team trying to win this year seemed to create a world in which few contending teams, if any, would be willing to meet such an asking price.

Now, there’s a clearer potential hang up thanks to Crochet’s reported demand, meaning it would suddenly be no shock at all if the guy used as the image for every post on the trade deadline for the last month stays put.

Unsurprisingly, for someone who’s been trying to block out all such talk for weeks, Crochet didn’t have anything to say when it came to questions about what uniform he’ll be wearing Tuesday night.

“That’s not for me to speculate,” he said. “As of now, I’m pitching for the White Sox. That’s pretty much all I’ve got.”

What Crochet did talk about Friday was what was involved in the other chunk of the national reports, that he has no interest in returning to a bullpen role, however briefly, and that he believes staying on a five-day routine as a starting pitcher is best for his health.

“For me, it’s being able to structure my workouts accordingly,” Crochet said. “I think just the structure of it, I think it’s really added a lot of benefits to my health and to my stuff overall maintaining throughout the length of a whole season.

“With all the work I put in this offseason, I expected (start-to-start recovery) to go well. I’m most happy with not only my health but the way my stuff has maintained throughout the season. When I was coming out of the ‘pen — I guess the last full (season) was ‘21 — there were weeks where my slider wasn’t there or my fastball command wasn’t there. But I’ve kind of had my good stuff, for the most part, every time I step out there.

“The five-day routine has been, ultimately, a huge factor for me that allows me to retain my health and my conditioning throughout the season.”

The reports, understandably, focused on potential trade implications, painting a picture of contending teams interested in managing Crochet’s workload — and perhaps avoiding the aforementioned extension — being unable to acquire the lefty as a relief option to help chase a championship.

But even if Crochet stays with the White Sox, such a preference is valuable information as his course for the rest of the season is charted. The White Sox didn’t seem likely to shift Crochet back to the bullpen anyway, but there has been a forecasted “dwindling” of his workload for a while now, with the team considering a host of ways to get Crochet more rest, whether that was limiting pitch counts and innings or giving him extended time between starts.

Those strategies have been prevalent of late. Crochet finished June at 101.1 innings on the season, but he’s logged just a handful in July, throwing four innings against the Marlins, two against the Pirates, one in the All-Star Game and four against the Rangers. That last one, his first start of the second half, came 11 days after his final outing of the first half.

It might stay that way, too, if the preference for a five-day routine can be translated into a preference to stay as a starting pitcher and not be shifted to an innings-saving role in the relief corps. The White Sox could continue to employ a suite of methods to get Crochet to the end of the season.

And if he stays a South Sider, that’s what will happen, even if it’s just precautionary, given the massive leap in innings. All along, Pedro Grifol has talked of Crochet being a unique case, someone who might just be able to physically handle going from relatively inexperienced reliever to a full starter’s workload. The manager still thinks Crochet, who’s exhibited no negative physical effects to this point, is capable of that sort of thing.

“I can go back to history in other sports. Nobody could break the four-minute mile. And then when one guy broke it, 40 guys broke it,” Grifol said. “So maybe a guy like him throws 185, 190 innings. Nobody would ever think of allowing anybody to do it until somebody actually does it.

“Right now, there are no red flags. So for me, personally, right now you keep him going until you start seeing some signs, whether it’s sports science, strength and conditioning, trainers, he himself who knows his body better than anybody around, especially in this building. Until you start seeing some red flags or some warning signs, just keep going.”

[MORE SOX: White Sox trade rumors tracker]

Of course, if Crochet doesn’t get traded now, the White Sox surely will continue to manage that workload and not just let him rip with however many pitches he feels like throwing every time out — usually that’s however many it takes to complete nine innings for competitive starting pitchers. That will be in an effort to do what’s best for Crochet’s health but also to do what’s best for the White Sox as Getz continues to rebuild the team.

That could mean revisiting Crochet trade conversations this offseason or next summer, when the reported demand for an extension will no longer be a thing and there would be no talk of switching his role, just a team acquiring him to sit atop their starting rotation.

Or it could keep alive the hopes of fans, that the White Sox would find a way to extend Crochet themselves.

But in order for those scenarios to present themselves, Crochet has to be wearing a White Sox uniform after the deadline passes Tuesday evening. Even if the likelihood of Getz making a big infusion into his rebuilding effort has decreased, there’s still much to happen in the next few days.

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