With the fifth pick of the 2024 MLB Draff, the Chicago White Sox may have lined up their replacement for Garrett Crochet.
Hagen Smith and Crochet have plenty of similarities. In college, both southpaws showed dynamic, top-of-the-rotation stuff in the SEC. It’s something that White Sox Director of Amateur Scouting, Mike Shirley noted in a video posted by the team after the pick.
“In some ways, he reminds me a little bit of what Garrett Crochet was in college in terms of the high-end stuff. The dynamic athlete. He’s a tremendous upside guy. Front of the rotation type profile,” Shirely explained.
The White Sox have had a good track record drafting left-handers. Chris Sale became a perennial Cy Young candidate, Carlos Rodon and Garrett Crochet were named All-Stars, and Noah Shultz, the 26th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft is currently the No. 18 prospect in baseball. However, the White Sox traded Sale, let Rodon walk in free agency, and are now in line to trade away Crochet.
Trade rumors surrounding the left-hander from Tennessee have been swirling for weeks, with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reporting that the front office intends to trade him after making a failed attempt to extend him. Nightingale noted this weekend that the Padres made a “recent” offer for Crochet’s services but were quickly dismissed. However despite some skepticism from other GMs the White Sox still plan to cash in on Crochet’s first-half success.
Drafting players to replace players you just drafted a few years ago is a strategy that is sure to rub some White Sox fans the wrong way. After all, Crochet is only 25 years old, and in his first season as a starting pitcher he has already been named AL Pitcher of the Month for June, the White Sox All-Star representative, and broken several franchise records. On top of that leads the MLB in strikeouts and ranks in the top ten in the AL in ERA (3.02), and bWAR (4.0) among pitchers. Drafting his replacement gives the front office an excuse not to pay Crochet and trade him in for more cheap controllable prospects.
The White Sox also had a serious need for more positional players in their farm system, specifically impact bats. But make no mistake Hagen Smith is a stud. He was also the best player on the board when the White Sox were on the clock.
Smith is fresh off a record-breaking season for the Arkansas Razorbacks where he posted a 9-2 record in 16 starts with a 2.04 ERA en route to winning both SEC and National Pitcher of the Year honors. He racked up 161 strikeouts in just 84 innings with a 0.89 WHIP.
In February he turned in one of the most dominant pitching performances in college baseball history when he struck out 17 batters against Oregon State in just six innings. He only needed 78 pitches to accomplish the feat. The performance showed why he was one of the most feared pitchers in the country. His fastball, which tops out at 100 mph, helped him average 17.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Regardless of whether or not the White Sox trade Crochet, having Shultz and Smith in the same rotation is a scary proposition for the rest of the league. If the White Sox surprise everyone and extend Crochet, they could be looking at a special trio of southpaws spearheading their rotation.
This was an important draft for the White Sox. Despite owning the worst record in baseball they will be unable to pick inside the top-10 next season. With a need for more bats, many pundits expected the team to take Florida Gators first baseman Jac Caglianone.
Despite slashing .419/.544/.875 with 35 bombs this past season, the White Sox let him fall to their division rival one pick later. If the Kansas City Royals develop Caglianone he could torture the White Sox for years. While Cagliaone was one of the most impressive college bats on the board, he comes with more risk than Smith.
You only have to go back a couple of years to when the White Sox drafted Andrew Vaughn, one of the best college bats available in the draft. To this point in his career, Vaughn has been nothing more than a replacement-level player. Power-hitting first basemen are easy to find in the MLB. They don’t provide much defensive value and in college, often times stats can be inflated due to the use of aluminum bats.
You can’t fault Getz for not taking one of the best pitchers in this year’s draft class, especially when you can get him in Senior Pitching Advisor Brian Bannister’s pitching lab. Bannister has a proven track record of developing pitchers and the White Sox now have a farm system stocked with pitching talent. Even though it is frustrating watching the White Sox take a rinse-and-repeat strategy drafting pitchers so they don’t have to pay veterans, the organization has shown that developing left-handers is one of their strong suites. When a talented left-hander like Smith is the best player on the board it’s easy to see why the White Sox pulled the trigger.
The Grade: B+
