Garrett Crochet trade rumors: White Sox ace could demand contract extension if he lands with contender

The 2024 MLB trade deadline is next Tuesday, July 30, and perhaps the biggest name on the market is Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet . The ChiSox are an MLB worst 27-77 and are unlikely to contend before Crochet reaches free agency after 2026, so sure, it makes all the sense in the world to make him available at the deadline. His value has never been higher.

Whichever team trades for Crochet will have to manage his workload down the stretch. He's thrown a career-high 111 1/3 innings this season -- his previous career high was the 65 innings he threw as a college sophomore in 2019 -- which is his first year as a starter after spending 2020-21 as a reliever and almost all of 2022-23 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. The workload is a concern.

Despite that, Crochet's excellence and two additional years of team control make him very desirable, and he's using his workload to create some leverage for himself. Crochet reportedly wants an extension to make himself available for the postseason.

On one hand, it is not unreasonable for a player to want to protect his future. Pitching deep into October would mean a dangerous workload -- Crochet has a fairly lengthy injury history -- and anything serious would severely damage his future earning potential. If you want Crochet to pitch in the postseason, pay him. It's a well-timed power play by Crochet and his representatives.

Teams with interest in Crochet -- there are many -- could use this as an excuse to reduce their offers because hey, they might not having him in the postseason, but that's the White Sox's problem, not Crochet's. Any little thing can and will be used as leverage, and Crochet wanting an extension to pitch into October is not a little thing. It's a big thing. The best ability is availability.

For what it's worth, pitchers in recent years who signed extensions two years away from free agency include Kyle Freeland (five years, $64.5 million), Mitch Keller (five years, $77 million), and Pablo López (four years, $73.5 million). Crochet now is better than those pitchers at the time of their deals. He could seek nine figures and it would not be unreasonable.

Given his performance and his years of control, and the fact the White Sox are a clear seller, we ranked Crochet as the No. 1 trade candidate leading up to the deadline . Here's the write-up:

It's easy to forget that Chicago's decision to put Crochet in their rotation this spring was met with skepticism; not because he lacked talent, but because he lacked precedent. He came into the year having thrown just 73 big-league innings since being drafted in 2020 because of various injuries. Though he's more than doubled that figure during the interim period, the question remains: how much can you rely on him the rest of the way -- this season, and from now until his winter 2026 date with free agency? No one can say for sure, leading to a wider than normal range of potential outcomes and returns. There's no reason to doubt a healthy Crochet's ability; he's introduced a cutter that works as a bridge pitch between his fastball and slider, giving him the kind of interplay that has transformed him into an above-average starter. All the stars in the sky will eventually burn out; Crochet will too. But first, if the heavens allow, the probable best starter moved this deadline could help determine who wins a pennant this October.

Crochet, who is still only 25, has a 3.07 ERA and a league-leading 157 strikeouts in 21 starts and those 111 1/3 innings this year. He has struck out 35.4% of the batters he's faced, more than two percentage points higher than any other qualified starter. The White Sox are 7-14 (.333) in Crochet's starts and 20-63 (.241) in all other games.