Coming off a breakout season for the Chicago White Sox, Garrett Crochet will pitch for the Boston Red Sox in 2025 after the team acquired the southpaw on Wednesday.

The White Sox will receive catcher Kyle Teel (Boston's No. 4 prospect), outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 5), infielder Chase Meidroth (No. 11) and right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez (No. 14) in return.

Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the details of the deal.

Crochet was a popular trade candidate leading up to the July 30 deadline during the 2024 season, but he threw a wrench into those talks by requiring a contract extension and stating a clear desire to remain a starting pitcher if a contender acquired him.

It was a smart piece of business for Crochet, who became a full-time starter last year after spending his entire big-league career up to that point as a reliever. He also had Tommy John surgery in April 2022 that kept him out for 13 months.

Since teams were understandably reluctant to part with a package of prospects and give a guaranteed deal to a player with short- and long-term health concerns, Crochet wound up finishing out the year in Chicago.

The White Sox did limit Crochet's workload after the All-Star break because he had long since passed his previous career-high in innings pitched. His numbers down the stretch show he wore down with a 5.12 ERA and 44 hits allowed in 38.2 innings over 12 starts after the break.

Overall, though, Crochet was one of the few bright spots on a White Sox team that lost a modern-era MLB record 121 games. He was their lone All-Star representative and finished fourth among all AL pitchers with 209 strikeouts in just 146 innings.

Prior to the 2024 campaign, Crochet pitched a total of 73 innings in 72 relief appearances from 2020 to '23.

The White Sox are in such dire straits that their best move was to maximize Crochet's trade value, especially since it was already known they wanted to cut payroll. Their farm system is improving, but it's still not close to being one of the best in MLB.

This is certainly a high-risk bet by the Red Sox because of Crochet's limited track record as a starter, but his success for the first four months last season suggests there is plenty of upside he can tap into. He is only 25 years old and four years removed from being the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Crochet still has two years of team control remaining, unless he is able to work out a long-term extension with the Red Sox. He has the upside of a No. 1 starter if he can harness what worked for him at the start of last season, and he'll be playing with a much better defense behind him.

Among the many issues facing the Red Sox in their quest to get back to playoff contention in the AL has been a lack of rotation depth.

Tanner Houck had a breakout year in 2024 with a 3.12 ERA in 178.2 innings, but he was their only pitcher who made at least five starts to post a sub-4.00 ERA. Brayan Bello did get better after a slow start, posting a 3.47 ERA after the All-Star break (5.32 pre-All-Star break).

Crochet certainly comes with plenty of risk because his track record as a starter is one year, but the upside is tremendous for a Red Sox team that will have him under control for two more seasons.

There's still work for the Red Sox front office to do if they want to make this group a contender in the AL East in 2025, but they are at least willing to take big swings on talented players to make it happen for the first time in years.