Enough Already

Off of last night, I might want to consider taking on the role of prophet; what I said would happen did happen, again. We’ll start with Garrett Crochet, who struck out thirteen Mariners last night in a game the White Sox won, 3-2 in ten innings. Seattle hitters managed two hits, two walks and one run against Crochet, who has another week to go before he turns 25. Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert Jr. went back-to-back with solo shots in the third inning for all the Sox offense in regulation. Michael Kopech did what he does best, which, unfortunately, does not include holding a lead. Like I said, Sox in ten. Why anybody would trade this guy is beyond me. First, you won’t get full value unless a team is full-out crazy. Almost any story on Crochet mentions this is his first MLB season starting or how he’s pitched more innings this year (82.2) than in his previous three combined. Plus he had Tommy John surgery back in 2022. To which I say, fine, then keep him. If only the media agreed. Here’s Paul Sullivan in today’s Tribune, counting down the days until the “selloff of the few players with any value will commence”; Sullivan means Crochet and Robert. Over at the Sun-Times, Daryl Van Schouwen wrote Crochet “would be a prize for any contending team.” Nothing like some “attractive packages of prospects to add volume to the farm system” because, apparently, we should want all the minor-league affiliates to win their respective leagues. Over at The Athletic, Jim Bowden has just about everybody looking at Crochet and Robert along with Michael Kopech. Yesterday, Bowden wrote, “The Sox are expected to be the cover story of this year’s trade deadline.” Again, the idea is “Prospects,” prospects, prospects. Do these guys read themselves? At some point, any rebuilding team identifies the player(s) to build around. If Sullivan et al think the Sox front office see Crochet and Robert as not being worth building around, they should say that rather than droning on about prospect acquisition as if that were an end-all and be-all. Just ask Rick Hahn.