The price of starting pitching keeps going up in free agency.
Frankie Montas is out here getting $17 million despite posting an ERA over 4.50 for two teams last season.
That is a good sign for the Chicago White Sox's attempts to trade ace pitcher Garrett Crochet.
Garrett Crochet has a projected Arb-2 salary of $3M yet other fanbases want to try and say he’s overvalued. https://t.co/xd1KvLYjUb
— Crawford (@Mattheius2783) December 2, 2024
Montas finished with a 1.4 fWAR between his time with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers gave up pitcher Jakob Junis and a former top prospect in Joey Wiemer just to get Montas for the stretch run.
So there is value for Montas, who has thrown over 140 innings in three of the past four seasons. $17 million for a pitcher who missed almost the entirety of 2023 might be too big of a bag of cash to hand over for a guy with a career 4.09 ERA and a 3.97 FIP.
It also means White Sox general manager Chris Getz can go back to any interested teams and remind them that Crochet is likely to cost a projected $2.9 in arbitration next season. Plus, he comes with another year of club control where he will likely not come close to Montas' $17 million salary.
Montas has never made an All-Star team, and the most hitters he has struck out in a season is 207. Crochet just K'd 209 batters during his first season as a starter, where he made an All-Star team. He finished with a 4.7 fWAR despite pitching no more than four innings once July started. He can be had for a fraction of Montas' cost.
However, it will cost a team prospects whereas Montas just costs a contender cash (and a contender who can easily afford it). Still, the likelihood of Crochet continuing to be an ace is well worth the cost.
The other impact is this could likely take the Mets out of the running to acquire Crochet.
Although the Mets being linked to Crochet had started to cool off. It has been a couple of weeks since the Amazins have been reported to still be interested.
The Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies are the four teams that most insiders have been reporting recently as the contenders interested in acquiring the White Sox's ace.
Also, a Mets former GM does not think New York's NL team has enough to acquire Crochet.
Now, this is still the Mets. They have unlimited spending power, especially with owner Steve Cohen willing to write checks.
Plus, they have starting pitchers Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, and Luis Severino currently on the free-agent market. They will likely lose a couple of them for nothing. They could even lose Quintana to the Sox, as has been linked to returning to the Southside.
Maybe the Mets could be motivated to circle back to Crochet since it appears they might have to replace three starting pitchers and adding Montas is how it starts.