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The Red Sox haven't been perfect in recent years.
However, using part of the superb bank of prospects to pick up Garrett Crochet, who signed a contract extension in town, has to be considered a big coup.
Can we even call it a stroke of genius?
At the time, I wondered why the Baltimore Orioles hadn't gotten their hands on Hook. The club needed help on the mound and had their hands full with youngsters.
I don't know if Hook was open to signing long-term in Baltimore… but we do know that in 2024, at the deadline, he didn't want to pitch in the playoffs without a contract extension. One might think that signing a long-term contract just about anywhere wasn't an impossible scenario to consider.
And even if he had said no to the Orioles, they had him under their control for two years. That was something.
But now we also have to wonder why the Mets didn't acquire Captain Hook. Because, according to Jon Heyman and Zack Scott, a former GM in New York and former manager in Boston, there were discussions about it.
But because the price was too high (Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams and more), the Mets quickly said no.
I get where David's coming from and agree that developing their own pitching is the key to sustained success. I guess I wonder where the bar is for defining sustained success in this expanded postseason era.
– Zack Scott (@ZackScottSports) September 30, 2025
Scott, who briefly managed the Mets, would have said yes to that. He knows Hook was open to a contract extension, and he doesn't believe the two prospects discussed will become stars.
Interesting guy to watch.
I would have strongly considered it, depending on what else they wanted added on. I think Jett will be a solid everyday guy but not a high impact player, and I think Sproat will be an impact reliever.
– Zack Scott (@ZackScottSports) September 30, 2025
David Stearns was so used to managing in a small market in Milwaukee (where prospects are more valuable because the Brewers can't afford their ambitions on the free-agent market) that he passed up the opportunity to pick up one of the league's best arms.
And it cost his Mets a playoff spot in 2025. Stearns will have to learn from this and say yes if such an opportunity should present itself again in the next few years.
This content was created with the help of AI.
