Dealing an ace to the Boston Red Sox to fast-forward the rebuild, only eight years after trying the exact same plan, makes comparisons easier for Chicago White Sox fans.
On paper, it looks like White Sox general manager Chris Getz got a decent haul on Wednesday for Garrett Crochet, whose limited workload as a starter in 2024 didn’t prevent the Red Sox from including their last two first-round draft picks, catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery, in the four-player package.
Whether White Sox fans will still be satisfied a few years down the road remains to be seen. Remember, they felt much the same way in 2016 when former GM Rick Hahn kickstarted the last rebuild by dealing Chris Sale for a prospects package that included two “can’t miss” players — third baseman Yoán Moncada and starter Michael Kopech.
Moncada proved to be a disappointment after showing great promise early on. Kopech was never consistent as a starter and only seemed to blossom in the bullpen after being traded last August to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he posted a 1.13 ERA in 24 games.
Injuries and the fateful pandemic-shortened 2020 season factored into their White Sox careers. Moncada was never the same after missing time with COVID-19, while Kopech sat out the abbreviated 2020 season because of health concerns and personal reasons, after missing 2019 following reconstructive elbow surgery.
That wasn’t Hahn’s fault, just as Getz can’t predict the long-range health status of his new players. Sometimes the right move just doesn’t work.
But give Getz credit for acquiring two big-time hitting prospects in Teel and Montgomery, along with a couple of lesser prospects in infielder Chase Meidroth, who could become a leadoff man and regular at second, and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez, who throws 99 mph but needs to fix his control issues.
Giving up someone with Crochet’s potential is never easy, but Getz really had no choice. His boss, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, has stubbornly refused to change his philosophy on paying starters their market value, a sad tradition that dates back to Jack McDowell and Alex Fernandez, and includes the likes of Sale, Mark Buehrle, Carlos Rodón, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Cease, among others.
Getz said Wednesday at the MLB winter meetings the Sox will make a presentation for Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, but if he pulls off that signing it will be the biggest upset of the offseason.
When Crochet said last summer he wanted to stay with the Sox, I asked if he knew the history of the Sox not keeping their own pitchers.
“I feel like I remember Cease saying something along those lines, that he wanted to stay here,” Crochet said. “(Giolito) might have said the same. I never talked to him specifically, though.”
Now that he’s Giolito’s teammate again in Boston, the two can compare notes. And if Reinsdorf keeps the Sox, don’t be surprised if we go through the same thing when top pitching prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are a couple of years away from free agency. It’s the Circle of Sox Life.
That’s why it’s never prudent for Sox fans to buy jerseys of young pitchers. They’ll be retired to the back of your closet before you know it.
Getz’s offseason work is only just beginning, and he has a long way to go before he’s graded. But so far, so good.
Dealing Luis Robert Jr. isn’t a must, but if Getz can get a couple of top prospects in return he should pull the trigger. The Sox are not going to compete for a few years, and there’s no sense in keeping Robert just to win a few more games in 2025. Mike Tauchman was a solid, low-key signing, and if Getz can find a team willing to take on the bulk of Andrew Benintendi’s contract, he deserves a raise.
Getz came into this job with a target on his back. Reinsdorf’s decision to hand him the job without interviewing outside candidates was seen as proof that nothing ever changes on the South Side. Getz knew it was part of the gig, and it was his job to prove he deserved the promotion.
Getz had a historic first season, trading Cease in spring training and building a roster jammed with bargain-basement acquisitions and injury-prone stars that led to a modern major-league record of 121 losses. His return on the three-way, trade deadline deal that unloaded Erick Fedde and Kopech was uninspiring, to say the least. And even as he insists the Sox will try to land Sasaki, Getz doesn’t seem to have the financial flexibility to reel in any of the top remaining free agents, even if they were interested.
But hope springs eternal. The Sox now have six of the top 59 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, so whatever optimism you can muster up about the team’s future can be directly traced to that fact.
Numbers on a subjective list don’t mean much until those players show it in the majors, but it’s still a foundation the Sox can build on.
There’s no denying that 2024 will go down as a low point in Sox history and that Getz’s name will forever be associated with it, along with Reinsdorf and former manager Pedro Grifol.
Restoring faith in the Sox organization is going to be a difficult task, especially if the Chicago Sports Network doesn’t get a carriage deal with Comcast and YouTube TV before opening day.
On the bright side, the Sox have an intelligent, likable manager in Will Venable, a collection of appealing young starters who now have some experience, and a couple of potential stars in the making in Teel and Montgomery.
It’s not where Sox fans thought they’d be when the last rebuild promised to make the 2020s a decade to remember. It didn’t work out for various reasons, and most of the main culprits— including Tony La Russa, Grifol, Lance Lynn, Tim Anderson and Yasmani Grandal— are long gone.
But there’s reason to believe the worst is behind them.
It’s a long road, but it started Wednesday with the big move at the winter meetings in Dallas.
Remember, a glimmer of hope is better than no hope at all.
