MLB Notebook: Former Red Sox prospects fueling White Sox’ stunning turnaround

It’s always easy to play Monday morning quarterback and second-guess blockbuster trades years after they’re made. At some point in the near future, Red Sox fans will undoubtedly revisit the deal that sent Garrett Crochet to Boston for four prospects and debate which organization ultimately came out ahead.

From Boston’s perspective, it was a move worth making every time. The Red Sox desperately needed a young, controllable ace to anchor their rotation and had the prospect depth to pay the price. Meanwhile the White Sox, firmly entrenched in a rebuild, landed an impressive haul in catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-handed reliever Wikelman Gonzalez.

Now, all four former Red Sox prospects have reached the major leagues.

The latest to arrive is Montgomery, who made his MLB debut this week and wasted no time making history. The outfielder blasted a walk-off home run in his first big league game, becoming just the fifth player in MLB history to hit a walk-off homer in his debut. He joined Carlos Perez (2015), Miguel Cabrera (2003), Josh Bard (2002), and Billy Parker (1971) in accomplishing the rare feat.

Montgomery finished his debut 2-for-5 with three RBIs and also became the 12th player to debut for the White Sox this season. He joins an emerging young core that includes Sam Antonacci at the top of the lineup, former first-round pick Jacob González, breakout infielder Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery, who has established himself as Chicago’s everyday shortstop.

The White Sox have also received tremendous production from Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, who is hitting .240 with 20 home runs and 41 RBIs through 57 games in his first major league season after signing a two-year, $34 million contract over the winter. Although he is currently sidelined with a right hamstring strain after receiving a PRP injection, he has been a major catalyst for Chicago’s resurgence.

The White Sox have had a power surge that has been fueled by the trio of Murakami, Montgomery and Vargas, who have combined for 38 home runs this season. That kind of production is rare in franchise history; only 16 White Sox players have ever reached the 20-homer mark as rookies. The organization has only had two players reach 20 homers in the same season once, when Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome both did so in 2006.

That young nucleus has helped propel the White Sox to just a half-game out of the American League Central while playing one of the game's more entertaining brands of baseball. Former Red Sox prospects Montgomery, Teel, and Meidroth are now central pieces of that foundation.

Teel has yet to appear this season after suffering a hamstring injury in spring training, but he is nearing his 2026 debut. Once healthy, he should provide a significant offensive boost behind the plate and reduce the workload for Edgar Quero and Drew Romo.

The Red Sox reportedly explored the possibility of bringing Teel back this offseason, but the White Sox rebuffed those inquiries at every turn.

Boston selected Teel in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and he wasted little time proving he was major league-ready. After earning a promotion in June, the catcher hit .273 with a .786 OPS, eight home runs, and 35 RBIs across 78 games during an impressive rookie campaign. His work behind the plate, however, remained a work in progress, as his minus-seven Outs Above Average ranked among the lowest at his position.

Given Boston’s unsettled catching situation in 2026, it’s easy to understand why the club checked in. Carlos Narváez has struggled to provide consistent production, forcing the Red Sox to rely more heavily on Mickey Gasper and Connor Wong.

Whether Teel would have solved all of those issues is debatable, but his combination of offensive upside and long-term potential clearly remains highly valued around baseball.

The Red Sox could really use a player like Meidroth right now.

All Meidroth did throughout his time in Boston’s system was get on base, and he’s continued doing exactly that in Chicago while playing both shortstop and second base. Through 67 games this season, he’s batting .279 with five home runs and 23 RBIs. His 12-game hitting streak ended Saturday against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who flirted with both a perfect game and a no-hitter before a Mookie Betts error and a Tristan Peters home run spoiled the milestones.

Meidroth has given Chicago exactly what it hoped for, offering defensive versatility, quality at-bats and consistent on-base ability. Meanwhile, from a Red Sox' standpoint, their infielders have struggled. Caleb Durbin has stumbled out of the gate for Boston, batting .197 with three home runs and 26 RBIs despite showing signs of improvement in recent weeks.

One interesting subplot is that Durbin has reportedly sought outside instruction from Aaron Judge’s personal hitting coach, Richard Schenck, working at Gradum Gswing in Waltham. That naturally raises questions about the Red Sox’ own hitting development process and whether more internal adjustments could have accelerated his progress.

Since making his major league debut on April 11, 2025, Meidroth has posted a .336 career on-base percentage over 189 games. By comparison, Marcelo Mayer owns a .277 on-base percentage through his first 105 big league contests and has yet to consistently produce offensively.

The fourth piece of the trade, Gonzalez, entered 2024 as a relatively under-the-radar arm after posting a 4.73 ERA at Double-A Portland. Although his four-pitch mix intrigued evaluators, inconsistency limited his ability to stay in the bigs since his promotion. 

Since joining Chicago, Gonzalez has shown flashes of promise, posting a 2.66 ERA in 16 major league appearances in 2025 before returning to Triple-A Charlotte, where he owns a 2.57 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 14 innings this season.

Of course, the centerpiece of the deal remains Crochet. He rewarded Boston immediately, finishing as runner-up in the 2025 American League Cy Young Award voting after posting a 2.59 ERA while leading the league in both strikeouts (255) and innings pitched (205 1/3). His performance helped propel the Red Sox to an 89-win season and a Wild Card berth. Injuries have interrupted his 2026 campaign, but when healthy, he remains one of the premier left-handed starters in baseball.

The White Sox are one of baseball’s feel-good stories right now. They weren’t expected to contend in the American League Central, yet they sit at 37-32 and are on pace for an 87-win season after losing 101 games in 2023, 121 in 2024, and 102 just a year ago.

It’s worth noting just how poor their start was. Chicago opened 0-3, stumbled to 1-5, and later sat at 6-13 before finding its footing. The AL Central has hardly been a juggernaut, and the