An emergency Red Sox trade that would make up for losing Blake Snell and then some

It's time for Craig Breslow to get busy. The Boston Red Sox have signaled to free agents and opposing teams that they are ready to buy. Boston finished the 2024 season with 81 wins, and the front office believes they are on the prescipice of postseason contention.

Adding an arm like Blake Snell would have been nice. Snell was one of the best starting pitchers available and has two CY Youngs to his name. Surely, Snell would've been the Sox marquee offseason signing (barring a Soto addition, of course), and led the rotation for years to come.

Thankfully for Boston, despite Snell signing with the Dodgers past my bedtime, the Red Sox still have plenty of time to fill that void. Breslow knows his team needs rotation help, especially at the top. They lack a true No. 1 starting pitcher, and it's a safe bet the Sox will find one this winter, even if that means a historic overpay.

Boston Red Sox should trade for Garrett Crochet

Rather than go down that rabbit hole, the Red Sox could control their own fate by trading for Garrett Crochet. While the left-hander was on a pitch count down the stretch, he still threw over 146 innings and had just 33 walks as compared to over 200 strikeouts. As detailed by Ian Browne of MLB.com, the advanced stats paint an even prettier picture:

"Per Statcast, Crochet was in the 89th percentile in run value and the 98th percentile for fastball run value. His expected ERA of 2.83 was in the 91st percentile, while his expected batting average against of .206 was in the 89th percentile. His fastball velocity average of 97.2 was in the 92nd percentile. On and on it goes."

A Garrett Crochet trade would require a Red Sox overpay right now

Those numbers are impressive, but they also make Crochet very expensive. Here's what a deal might look like, as the White Sox are holding out for as much prospect capital as possible.

Red Sox fans will punt me into the sun for suggesting such a trade package, but please keep in mind this is a break-in-case-of-emergency deal. Boston would prefer to land Crochet without dealing any of their top-100 prospects, which is just unrealistic. Montgomery is ranked No. 54 in MLB Pipeline, but he's also behind both Roman Anthony and potentially Kristian Campbell at his position.

Trading Abreu, who is still just 25 years old and relatively proven, makes room for Anthony. The White reportedly covet position player prospects in return for Crochet, which makes Boston an ideal trade partner.

Please don't shoot the messenger, but Chris Getz is holding out for a godfather trade package. A top-100 prospect and some proven MLB talent would get the job done. If the Red Sox feel comfortable waiting Crochet out, be my guest – but they are not alone in their interest.