Top Free Agent Says Garrett Crochet Trade Eliminated Red Sox As Potential Destination

What could have been...

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty (0) reacts in the dugout after being relieved during the second inning against the New York Yankees in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Major League Baseball free agency is a world of endless possibilities, and it's always entertaining to look back and think what could have been.

The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason in desperate need of starting pitching, and they took one of the most drastic measures possible to ensure they secured it. In December, they traded a massive four-prospect haul for former Chicago White Sox All-Star Garrett Crochet.

Crochet was the trade prize of the offseason on the starting pitching market, and he projects to make the Red Sox one of the American League's best rotations. But by making that deal, the Red Sox took themselves out of the running for other supremely talented pitchers.

One of those pitchers was Jack Flaherty, the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series champion who remains unsigned in late January. After his excellent bounceback season, Flaherty has been struggling to find his next team as he seeks his first multi-year free-agent contract.

In an appearance on Foul Territory Thursday, Flaherty dished on how the Crochet deal took the Red Sox out of the running to sign him, eliminating what he believed to be one potential landing spot this winter.

"You've got the White Sox trading away Crochet, who's one of their only pieces that they have, to the Red Sox," Flaherty said. "Kudos to the Red Sox for landing him, you know, that takes a spot away from where I could have potentially gone."

Flaherty, 29, had a 3.17 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 28 starts last season. Crochet's ERA may have been slightly higher (3.58), but he racked up 14 more strikeouts in 16 fewer innings, and all his peripheral stats indicate that he was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball.

Of course, the Red Sox also nabbed Flaherty's 2024 Dodgers teammate, Walker Buehler, on a one-year, $21.5 million contract. Flaherty likely expects a multi-year deal worth roughly the same average annual value, so Buehler made more financial sense for the Red Sox after adding Crochet.

Wherever Flaherty winds up, fans can follow along with curiosity about how different things might have been had the Red Sox whiffed on Crochet and signed the righty instead.

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