The Chicago White Sox are down a good starting pitcher after trading Erick Fedde. The return in the deal for him was underwhelming, but the Sox did not trade ace Garrett Crochet.
At least the team still has a top-of-the-line starter.
It was going to be hard to trade Crochet once word got out that he wanted an extension in order to pitching in October since this is his first year as a starter and he was expecting to shut it down once the regular season was over.
At least the Sox do not have to replace two arms in the rotation. However, there is no reason to see Chris Flexen pitch the rest of the season. We know what the team is getting out of him. He will pitch himself into trouble and that it is a matter of him being able to limit the damage.
He is on a one-year deal and should not factor into the team's long-term plans.
Ideally, this is what the starting rotation should look like for the rest of the season...
No. 1 Starter: Garrett Crochet (Chris Flexen being the long reliever after he throws four innings)
Crochet has already pitched in 114.1 innings this season. He threw in just 72.3 during his first three seasons and missed the 2022 season after Tommy John surgery.
The innings limits have already been implemented, as he threw just 13 innings in five starts in July. It would be better to have him on a pitch count than an innings limit. Either way, it does make sense to limit his workload the rest of the season.
His value to the team's long-term health is just too important to waste on this terrible season. He emerged as the club's ace and he can still be sent out as a draw at the gate. Plus, the team can try to get him signed to an extension in the offseason to anchor the rotation for the rest of the decade.
If they cannot get him signed to an extension, they can trade him in the offseason when his trade value should still be high.
What would make sense is to have Flexen go from starting to backing up Crochet as the long relief man to eat up whatever innings Crochet cannot make it through.