As reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne, the Red Sox icon says the lefty’s stuff rivals his own.
There are trades you debate for years.
And then there are trades that, at least early on, look like a heist.
When the Boston Red Sox acquired Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox in December 2024, the move was framed as bold.
Crochet had electric stuff but an uneven resume, and Boston paid a premium in prospects - Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez - to get him.
One season later, it looks lopsided.
Crochet didn’t just pitch well in 2025, he blossomed into one of the most dominant arms in baseball. He tied for second in MLB with 18 wins, posted a 2.59 ERA, logged a 1.03 WHIP, and led the majors with 255 strikeouts. At 26, he didn’t look like a breakout candidate anymore. He looked like an ace. There’s a reason he was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award.
And as Ian Browne of MLB.com detailed in his piece on Friday, even Pedro Martinez sees it.
“I think he’s probably got better stuff [than I did] when it comes to velo and stamina,” Martinez told Browne. “He’s very consistent in staying right above 97 and 98 [mph] … He proved to everybody that all he needed was just to get a year under his belt, to get totally healthy.”
Feb 26, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. (Jim Rassol/Imagn Images)Let’s pause there.
Martinez - a three-time Cy Young Award winner, a five-time ERA leader and a first-ballot Hall of Famer - doesn’t casually hand out praise like that.
When a pitcher of his stature says someone might have “better stuff,” that’s not filler. That’s reverence.
Crochet earned it.
The Red Sox didn’t just trade for him. They doubled down, signing the left-hander to a six-year, $170 million extension in March 2025 rather than risk losing him after his final arbitration year.
It was a proactive swing from a front office that understood what it had.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s return remains theoretical.
Teel showed flashes with a .273/.375/.411 slash line over 78 games. Meidroth hit .253 across 122 contests. Gonzalez impressed in limited action with a 2.66 ERA. Montgomery climbed from Single-A to Double-A and earned a non-roster invite this spring.
There’s talent there. There’s projection. There’s possibility.
But there’s also uncertainty.
Prospects are lottery tickets. Crochet is a frontline starter in his prime.
From Chicago’s perspective, the trade made sense.
They weren’t positioned to extend Crochet, and needed long-term assets before free agency loomed. That’s the cost of rebuilding.
Still, equal value is hard to guarantee when you move a 6-foot-6 lefty who can sit 98 deep into games and pile up strikeouts by the dozen.
Right now, this looks like a coup for Boston - the kind of aggressive, decisive move that can anchor a rotation for years.
And when Pedro Martinez is tipping his cap, that’s when you know it’s real.
Unknown Date, 1998; Boston, MA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Boston Red Sox pitcher (45) Pedro Martinez during the 1998 season at Fenway Park. (RVR Photos/Imagn Images)JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.