A blockbuster Red Sox-White Sox trade for Boston's next young ace

The Boston Red Sox won't die. Despite seemingly always in danger of the bottom falling out with inexplicable losses (including splitting a series against the lowly White Sox) and injuries piling up throughout the season, Alex Cora's club enters their weekend clash with the Yankees a game over .500 and only two games back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card race, the first team out.

All of this feels as if it could inform what new general manager Craig Breslow and, by proxy, owner John Henry elect to do at the forthcoming MLB Trade Deadline. If they stay in the playoff hunt, though, it becomes increasingly likely that they will try to buy at the deadline in order to make that postseason push complete.

Exploring the possibility of the team buying, though, former MLB GM and The Athletic MLB insider Jim Bowden broke down the Red Sox's needs at the trade deadline, highlighting starting pitching upgrades and possibly a look at shortstop. But pitching is clearly the primary focuse and one possible target listed by Bowden could be a game-changer for the rest of the 2024 season but also for Boston's future: Garrett Crochet.

A Red Sox-White Sox trade sending Garrett Crochet to Boston

The White Sox are primed for an all-out fire sale wherein no player is off the table on the Southside. With that, Chicago could potentially deal the 24-year-old Crochet, a southpaw in his first season as a starter and who has electric stuff.

Despite his inexperience as a starter, Crochet has been phenomenal. The lefty has a 3.16 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over 15 starts this season with a 12.6 K per 9 rate and a 2.71 FIP on the year, showing that the White Sox defense has actually been making his overall stats look worse than he's pitched this season.

For a player who is controllable through 2026, the White Sox aren't going to give up Crochet for nothing, even in a fire sale. In fact, MLB.com analyst Thomas Harrigan surmised that Chicago will be looking for an even bigger package for the southpaw than what they got for Dylan Cease before the start of the season. So what could the Red Sox trade to get that done? Let's take a look at a proposed trade package.

Yes, this is an absolute haul that the White Sox would be getting but, again, that's what it's going to take to orchestrate a blockbuster for a breakout left-handed starter who has Crochet's talent.

Chicago would have to be intrigued by this package, though. Luis Perales is a rapid riser in the Red Sox system, recently cracking the Baseball America ($) Top 100 prospects at No. 57. In nine minor league outings this season (seven in High-A Greenville and two in Double-A Portland), Perales has a 2.94 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. In fact, he's been even more dominant after his promotion, hence his rise into the Top 100 so heartily.

Beyond that, Miguel Bleis and Yoelin Cespedes are Boston's No. 4 and 7 prospects, respectively. At just 20 and 18 years old, respectively, they have both flashed elite power and tremendous five-tool upside that could be highly valuable. And as for Nathan Hickey, he's an older prospect but one who has started to look more and more ready for the majors with his progression at Triple-A Worcester.

Now the important part: Why the Red Sox would be okay giving all this up. Truthfully, Perales would be the prospect that would hurt the most to give up but getting Crochet in return would ease that blow quite a bit.

As for the rest of the prospects, Bleis could theoretically be blocked by the likes of No. 2 prospect Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu moving forward as the club's young outfield. Cespedes plays the same position as the organization's top prospect, Marcelo Mayer, which limits his path, and the same is true for Hickey with Connor Wong in the majors and Kyle Teel, the No. 3 prospect, rising rapidly in his own right.

Moreover, the Red Sox would be able to move forward with a Top 3 in the rotation of Crochet, newfound ace Tanner Houck, and Brayan Bello. Not to mention, Lucas Giolito should return to be a veteran presence there in 2024. With that, Boston would be set up to truly be in playoff contention with one of the best young rotations in baseball.

It's a lot to give up but, for both a playoff push this season and a long-term outlook, this is a trade the Red Sox have to be exploring with a package similar to this that would make the White Sox think about it.