Garrett Crochet talks past, present, future
FORT MYERS, Fla. - "I'm actually glad that you asked ..."
As Garrett Crochet detailed in his appearance on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, his most asked-about question so for this spring training isn't difficult to decipher. That would be anything involving thoughts on a possible contract extension with the Red Sox.
While there are few definitive answers available on that front, Crochet did want to offer some insight into the contract extension thought process that led the 25-year-old to this point.
It's a subject he is happy to clarify.
The contract chaos started once it became clear that the plan for Crochet to evolve into a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher after years of relieving was the profitable path for both the pitcher and the White Sox. It didn't take long for the buzz regarding a possible contract extension to start percolating.
"Front offices and agents they have these different models that they look at to perceive value, so it was just a discussion of the trajectory of my career, where am I going right now based on what these analytics say. And it was like, ‘We think you’re going to be really good,’ kind of thing, because I was progressing in my career. And then it was also like, ‘We’re also going to try and trade you,'" Crochet said on the podcast.
"The thought came up where it was like would I want to spend the rest of my career in Chicago, or the flip side of the coin go somewhere I could go and win right away. That’s why Boston was such an attractive option. It wasn’t really an option because I had no say. But when it actually went down I was really fired up because it’s a place you want to spend your entire career and you can win right away, it’s kind of the best of everything."
But while Crochet's wishes ultimately came true this past offseason, the lefty had been left with weeks of uncertainty heading last season's trade deadline.
Crochet informed the White Sox that he wanted a contract extension from whatever team might trade for him in order to be available for any postseason appearances. The missive immediately limited Chicago's potential trade partners, while putting the pitcher in the crosshairs of some angry White Sox fans.
"I’m actually glad that you asked because I know when it came out a lot of people were looking as greedy," Crochet said. "I didn’t, by no means, feel like I was demanding it because I wanted money or security by itself. It was more so in the fact that I was establishing myself as a starter and kind of getting away from the idea that teams viewed me as a potential high-end reliever. I was having a good year and I was staying healthy for the first time in my career. In 2020, flexor strain. In ’21 I had the back thing. Then I blow out. Then coming back fro TJ there were complications there. Now I’m starting on a set routine and I’m feeling good every fifth day and I’m able to go out and perform. Why should I jeopardize that for a team I don’t really owe anything to.
"That was the weird part. A lot of people were sending me hate stuff on Instagram and I was like, I don’t owe a team I’m not on anything. For me, that was the way to protect myself."
He added, "I worked to put myself in that position. That’s all I really have to add. I’m finally healthy. What about a team that is making a playoff push and has no intention of extending me. Or a hypothetically a team that has a good strong farm system, enough to get the job done. The White Sox were obviously hunting position players so this team gets to keep all their power arm waiting in the wings. If I go down on this playoff push, well now I’m just by the wayside. I haven’t had a full season as a starter. That would be my fifth injury since debuting. What happens to my career now?"
Crochet, who has two more seasons left before becoming eligible for free agency, had witnessed his former teammate Carlos Rodon be put in an awkward position the White Sox in 2020 after coming back from Tommy John surgery. The end result of that was Rodon being non-tendered by Chicago after trying to push through a postseason run.
"I look back to Carlos Rodon in 2020," Crochet said. "I don’t know when his TJ stuff was or when his shoulder stuff was, but I know there were surgeries to that point. He spent a little time rehabbing at the alternate site. He wasn’t really himself. And then in the offseason he gets DFAd. I watched Carlos Rodon pitching the World Series. I saw him debut. And I knew what kind of talent he was. And to see someone discard him, it was kind of my first time seeing the business of it. I was like, ‘How could this happen to someone of this caliber with this level of talent?’ I don’t know. Could that happen to me? Would anybody really notice? Because all of a sudden I pop up on the map, having a good year starting. I could just as easily fall off right now. I’m ultimately trying to have a good career."
For someone Crochet's age, he has been afforded some powerful experiences that help him shape his current approach to contract talks.
He knows what he wants, wants to do and where he wants to do it at. All of that was made very clear thanks to a memorable few months last season.
"It was hard, but at the same time it really wasn’t. It was what I believed in," he said. "I was fully convicted in the process of it just because it just made sense. I guess it really wasn’t hard. It was weird to cope with and weird to deal with because I had media asking me questions about. But those are my actions. I will always have to answer for my actions. So I wouldn’t say it was really difficult.
"The hardest part is that I scuffled a couple of times right after the trade deadline and it was like, ‘Did I mess up?’ But I was like, ‘No, I didn’t.’ I know I made the right call."