DALLAS ¨C Eight years ago, the Red Sox struck a blockbuster Winter Meetings trade with the White Sox for an ace lefty pitcher (Chris Sale) that led to the club¡¯s next World Series championship.

On Wednesday, the last day of this year¡¯s Meetings, Boston agreed to a deal with Chicago for a blossoming lefty ace in Garrett Crochet in hopes that history can repeat itself.

The rebuilding White Sox, who lost a record-setting 121 games last season, need prospects.

And the Red Sox sent an impressive group of four, fronted by catcher Kyle Teel, who was rated No. 25 on MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 prospects list and No. 4 in Boston¡¯s system at the time of the agreed-upon trade.

In addition to Teel, the White Sox will receive outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 54 overall prospect), infielder Chase Meidroth (Boston's No. 11 prospect) and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez (Boston's No. 14 prospect). Teel (No. 14 overall, 2023) and Montgomery (No. 12 overall, 2024) represent the Red Sox's last two first-round Draft picks.

TRADE DETAILS
Red Sox get: LHP Garrett Crochet
White Sox get: C Kyle Teel (No. 25 overall prospect), OF Braden Montgomery (No. 54 overall), INF Chase Meidroth (BOS No. 11 prospect), Wikelman Gonzalez (BOS No. 14 prospect)

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¡°We feel like we got a legitimate number one starter in Garrett, left-handed, ton of swing and miss, massive strikeouts, and feels like the best is still in front of him,¡± said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. ¡°So we're excited about what he brings. And obviously, we needed to trade really good players in order to be able to do this. But that's the cost right now and we're very much focused on what we were able to get.

¡°The excitement that we have around adding him to the rotation, it adds depth. It adds quality, adds a bona fide ace, and someone that we feel is going to continue to improve. Really excited about getting him into our pitching infrastructure, getting a chance for him to work with [pitching coach] Andrew Bailey and winning a bunch of games at Fenway Park for us.¡±

From the start of this offseason, Red Sox management has stated numerous times that they owed it to their fans to get back to top contender status after missing the playoffs for three straight seasons. This was the first significant move toward that end.

This trade was a shift from the team¡¯s philosophy the past three years, when they were hesitant to deal from their base of top prospects.

¡°This is the type of move, and Garrett comes with two years of [contractual] control, that I think screams we need to compete in 2025 ¡° said Breslow. ¡°And that we need to put a better team on the field. And in order to do that, sometimes you have to sacrifice potential future value. I think, fortunately, our system is deep and there's a ton of quality and a ton of really, really good players, and so we felt like we were in a position to withstand the cost. But there's no doubt the four guys we gave up are really good players.¡±

The Red Sox were able to pull off the deal without subtracting anyone from the strong young core of their Major League roster, leaving the club with a robust stable of position players and now the front-line pitcher for the rotation that Breslow has coveted all winter.

Breslow had engaged in talks with the two lefties in the free-agent market in Blake Snell and Max Fried. After losing Snell to the Dodgers last week and Fried to the rival Yankees on Tuesday, the Red Sox responded with their big answer, one that won¡¯t need a big financial commitment, at least off the bat. Crochet has two arbitration-eligible seasons left.

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Though Crochet doesn¡¯t have the extended track record of excellence Sale had eight years ago, the upside is comparable. The 25-year-old, who debuted in 2020, bounced back from Tommy John surgery in 2022 to become the bright light in a rough season for the White Sox.

Crochet was an All-Star for Chicago in 2024, his first year as a starting pitcher in the Majors. While pitching 146 innings -- the White Sox had him on a pitch count down the stretch -- Crochet had 209 strikeouts with just 33 walks. He had a 1.07 WHIP and averaged 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

You want some deeper numbers?

Per Statcast, Crochet was in the 89th percentile in pitching run value and in the 98th percentile for fastball run value. His expected ERA of 2.85 was in the 91st percentile, while his expected batting average against of .204 was in the 89th percentile. His fastball velocity average of 97.2 was in the 92nd percentile. On and on it goes. Chase percentage? 93rd percentile. Whiff percentage? 93rd percentile. K percentage? 98th percentile. Walk percentage? 87th percentile. Extension? 93rd percentile.

Be it basic numbers or more involved metrics, Crochet aces all the statistical tests in determining what an ace looks like. The Red Sox hope that Crochet can be one of baseball¡¯s breakout pitchers in ¡¯25, similar to what American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal did with the Tigers last season.

Breslow and his staff had been eyeing the possibility of adding Crochet for months.

¡°We've done extensive work,¡± said Breslow. ¡°It's hard to imagine that we would have been able to collect more information and watch more video, watch more starts. We obviously saw him up close, during the season. I think the work that we did was extensive. He's just an immensely talented guy.¡±

For a Boston rotation that was all right-handed, Crochet¡¯s electric left arm provides more balance.

The Red Sox now have a strong starting rotation that also includes ¡¯24 All-Star Tanner Houck, veteran righty Lucas Giolito (coming off right elbow surgery), Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. Garrett Whitlock is also in the mix, though he could move to the bullpen.

The Crochet trade doesn¡¯t necessarily mean the Red Sox are done adding to the rotation. They could add another second-to-mid-tier rotation piece in the coming days or weeks. The Red Sox are also in talks to add a right-handed bat while looking to add at least a couple more relievers after already acquiring lefty flamethrower Aroldis Chapman.

With Crochet joining the Red Sox, the club¡¯s stated goal of getting back to a place where they can compete for an American League East title is more realistic.

The Red Sox finished 81-81 and in third place in the East in ¡¯24. Manager Alex Cora said late in the season that ¡°I do believe this the last of our struggles.¡±

That statement was aging well by Wednesday.