Sox trade Jiménez, DeJong and Banks while holding on to Crochet

CHICAGO -- The story of the White Sox 2024 Trade Deadline on Tuesday was just as much about who stayed as it was about who left.

Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham and Erick Fedde all were moved on Monday as part of a three-team deal before Chicago traded Eloy Jiménez to Baltimore, Paul DeJong to Kansas City and Tanner Banks to Philadelphia ahead of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. CT Deadline. But Garrett Crochet remained in Chicago.

TRADE DETAILS
White Sox acquire: LHP Trey McGough
Orioles acquire: OF Eloy Jiménez

With 160 strikeouts over 114 1/3 innings, Crochet stands as the American League strikeout leader and one of the most dominant starters in the game featuring two years of arbitration contractual control after ‘24. So, there was understandable interest in the 25-year-old with the rebuilding White Sox looking to develop their talent base in any and every way possible.

“Garrett has had strong interest from clubs for obvious reasons,” said White Sox general manager Chris Getz. “He’s become one of the top starting pitchers in our game and his story kind of speaks for itself, his climb toward the top being a starting pitcher.

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“We were having discussions with clubs up until the last hour. Obviously, nothing came together. We didn’t feel like it was the right move to move Garrett although there was that strong interest. He remains with the Chicago White Sox. I know that I talked yesterday about Garrett and with the comments that his team had put out there. We are going to work past that. He’s a high-character individual. He is a competitor. He wants to be the best that he can be.”

TRADE DETAILS
White Sox acquire: RHP Jarold Rosado
Royals acquire: SS Paul DeJong

Those comments mentioned by Getz centered on Crochet wanting a contract extension from the acquiring team to expand his already career-high workload, while staying as a starting pitcher -- expressed by Crochet’s agent. Crochet spoke on the matter Friday, although he chose not to comment specifically on the social media post from Jon Heyman delivering the message, with Getz then providing his thoughts on Monday.

TRADE DETAILS
White Sox acquire: SS William Bergolla
Phillies acquire: LHP Tanner Banks

There were no lingering hard feelings over the matter, with Getz saying they were “in good standing,” and looking forward to mapping out the rest of Crochet’s season with him in the near future. Getz reiterated they could talk with Crochet about a long-term fit in Chicago, but Getz also mentioned Crochet’s trade value if the club looked to move him in the offseason.

“What Garrett has done, it’s a bold statement what he’s become this year, and arms like that just don’t come around,” Getz said. “The interest perhaps could be even stronger being that it’s the offseason and the urgency can change for a handful of clubs.

“I anticipate the attention on Garrett and the interest in acquiring him is only going to go up. With that being said, we are very happy he remains here and being able to watch him compete the remainder of the season.”

Luis Robert Jr., the five-tool talent in center field, remained part of the White Sox as well, with high asks on him and Crochet not met by interested teams. The White Sox have one more year with Robert on his six-year, $50 million deal to go before $20 million club options in ‘26 and ‘27. Miguel Vargas, the centerpiece of Monday’s three-team deal with the Cardinals and Dodgers and a close friend of Robert, played his first game at designated hitter Tuesday against the Royals.

Jiménez was sent to Baltimore in exchange for lefty reliever Trey McGough, following the move of reliever Koepch to the Dodgers on Monday. Fedde was also traded to the Cardinals on Monday, along with outfielder Pham. DeJong was traded to the Royals on Tuesday in exchange for pitching prospect Jarold Rosado before the White Sox wrapped up the Deadline by moving left-handed reliever Tanner Banks to the Phillies for 19-year-old infielder William Bergolla.

“I’m really proud of our group, how organized we were and the process we were able to carry out throughout this whole Trade Deadline,” Getz said. “The goal going into this window at the Deadline was to acquire offensive players, to acquire bats and to bring in four quality bats with the resources that we had. It’s something I’m very proud of. We feel very good about the players we acquired.

“We weren't focusing on age. We were looking for players that we feel like have a chance to be impactful Major League players. That can come at the Major League level, that can come at the mid-level leagues or lower Minor Leagues.”

The new-look clubhouse faced familiar results, as the 4-3 setback to the Royals on Tuesday gave the White Sox (27-83) their franchise-record 16th straight loss. They became the third team in Major League history to lose 83-plus in their first 110 games of a season and dropped to 0-12 post All-Star break.

“We’re busting our [butt] trying to get that win,” said shortstop Nicky Lopez, who had two hits and two runs scored. “It just always seems like there’s that one inning or one situation where we have to come through and we haven’t done that. It’s piling up.”