The Boston Red Sox made a splash during the Winter Meetings, by trading for Chicago White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet, while sending Chicago four of their Top Prospects.
It was believed that the New York Mets had the upper hand in landing Crochet, but the Red Sox had the bigger and best package to offer Chicago.
In exchange for Crochet, the White Sox will receive Boston’s #1 catching prospect (4th overall) Kyle Teel, #5 overall prospect Braden Montgomery, #11 overall prospect Chase Meidroth and #14 overall prospect Wikelman Gonzalez.
Earlier today, I wrote a post If Crochet was worth giving up some of the Mets Top Prospects, and instead of thinking it would take maybe just two players to send to Chicago, Boston stole the show by sending four Top Prospects to the South Side of Chicago.
Who Are The Prospects?
Kyle Teel, C
Teel was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Virginia University. His father Garett was a minor leaguer from 1989 to 1994, after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round of the 1989 draft. In the younger Teel’s first pro season, he played in rookie ball, High A, and Double A and in total he batted .363, with six doubles, two home runs, and 22 RBIs, spanning 26 games. Then in 2024, he started in Double A and hit 20 doubles and 11 home runs, while batting .298 through 84 games, before being moved to Triple A, where he batted .255, with three doubles, two home runs and 18 RBIs in 28 games.
Braden Montgomery, OF
Montgomery was drafted by the Red Sox in the 1st round (12th overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Texas A&M University. The young outfielder graduated out of Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi and spent his freshman and sophomore seasons of college at Stanford University and overall he had a total of 30 doubles, 35 home runs and 57 RBIs through 126 games. For his junior season, Montgomery transferred to Texas A&M and through 61 games, he batted .322, with 14 doubles, 27 home runs, while driving in 85 runners. Montgomery has yet to play in his first minor league game.
Chase Meidroth, 3B
Meidroth was drafted by the Red Sox in the 4th round (129th Overall) of the 2022 MLB draft out of San Diego University. In three seasons within the Red Sox farm system, Meidroth has a .285 batting average, with 44 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs and 129 RBIs through 255 games. He has quickly moved through the farm system, playing all the way up to Triple A in just three seasons, while showcasing a knack of putting the bat on the ball and with some pop.
Wikelman Gonzalez, RHP
Gonzalez was signed out of Venezuela by the Red Sox in 2018. Since, he has risen the ranks, pitching as high as Double A, and with an overall minor league career record of 21-15, and a 3.97 ERA, with 491 strikeouts in 392.1 innings. He pitched in the MLB Spring Breakout game last March and threw three scoreless innings, walked three and struck out one. He was said to have a live arm ready for the big leagues. That was prior to the 2024 season, where he spent the year at Double A. In 24 games with the Portland Sea Dogs, Gonzalez was 4-3, with a 4.73 ERA, and 92 strike outs through 83.2 innings, with opponents batting .198, as he sported a 1.25 WHIP.
