The Red Sox came up short in free agent pursuits of Juan Soto and Max Fried, but they made their first major strike of the offseason when they pried Garrett Crochet from the White Sox in exchange for a package of four prospects headlined by catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery — their top picks in each of the past two drafts. Boston now controls Crochet through the 2026 season, making him a multi-year contributor alongside Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and perhaps Lucas Giolito — depending on his 2026 option. The Sox, however, don’t plan to stop there. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that he’s still in the market for more rotation help (audio link).
“Teams that win in the postseason, they pitch,” said Breslow. “The ability to build out both quality and depth in our rotation is something that’s going to serve us well over the season. I think we saw what happened last year, when later in the season, our bullpen got tired and we had a couple unfortunate injuries with our rotation. We didn’t quite have the depth built up to step in and replace them. So, that’s a focus of ours. We’ll continue to be aggressive in pursuing starting pitching, but we’ll also start to shift our focus to continuing to address the bullpen.”
Breslow’s comments align with recent reporting on the Sox’ offseason efforts. In the week since landing Crochet, they’ve been connected to trade candidate Luis Castillo and to free agents John Means and Jack Flaherty. They were previously reported to be readying an offer to Corbin Burnes. Means, coming off early June UCL surgery, would be a pure depth addition with an eye toward the late stages of the 2025 season. Burnes, Flaherty or Castillo, clearly, would represent a potential major upgrade to a rotation already including Crochet, Giolito, Houck, Bello and Crawford.
Giolito is recovering from his own UCL procedure and might not be ready for Opening Day. Even if the Sox get a relatively healthy season out of him, there’s reason to think they could use another starter. Injuries on the starting staff are practically inevitable, first and foremost. Beyond that, Giolito’s workload will probably be managed in his first post-surgery season. Crochet’s 2024 season was his first full, healthy season as a starter. Another established arm would allow Boston to ease Giolito into the mix and provide some extra insurance should one of the other starters get hurt.
Addressing the pitching staff has been just one of multiple stated goals throughout the winter. The focus on Soto and the rotation clearly took priority, but Breslow is still mindful of needs within the lineup. “Also, we’ll take a look at trying to balance out the lineup a little bit and potentially do that via the addition of a right-handed bat,” he added during his radio hit.
Certainly, the pursuit of balancing the lineup and upgrading the pitching staff could be intertwined. Boston has explored trade possibilities involving both Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu this offseason. Moving a left-handed bat could clear a path for the Sox to sign a righty-swinging outfielder like Teoscar Hernandez (if they deal from the outfield) or to move Rafael Devers across the diamond to first base (if they move Casas). That, in turn, could free up the possibility to trade for Nolan Arenado or to sign Alex Bregman in free agency. Boston could take the more direct approach of adding a right-handed bat to play second base while waiting on the development/arrival of top prospect Kristian Campbell (who can play multiple positions anyhow).
There are various avenues for Breslow & Co. to explore, but the second-year baseball operations leader’s comments Tuesday only reinforce that the Crochet acquisition was the first of what should be several notable offseason transactions.
Corbin Burnes?
Please Red Sox overpay for Castillo…
Teoscar is not a good fit for them assuming they don’t trade Duran and abreu and Anthony
Hell Hell Hell No for Castillo. $72M plus an option year triggered by his performance for a pitcher that is in decline. youtube.com/watch?v=L6bHJRrt2mY
Fair value for taking on that contract is Zach Penrod – see 6:20 in above video – which I agree with 🙂 Unfortunately he goes on to say Abreu for Castillo and Garver
While I don’t blame you for not wanting Castillo to be fair he doesn’t have negative trade value so it’s not like he’s only getting salary relief and a random washed minor leaguer
Thank you a reasonable middle of the road position.
Castillo is worth roughly what he gets paid. Just imho, if I were going to pay him $24M per, I’d prefer to pay Burnes $28-30M per, depending on duration.
Sox already overpaid for one Castillo.
where is Rusney these days
alan – Mexican League 2023 & 2024, and he absolutely raked this year.
Let – Frankie Castillo was worth every penny, he was a huge part of that memorable 2004 championship team ;O)
Open up the checkbook, John, Burnes is sitting right there to be had…
I think Burnes is going to get a massive overpay and not sure it is worth it. I think I would prefer another trade for a starting pitcher and put money into the bullpen and a right-handed bat. Maybe get one of the pitchers who will not be getting Burnes type money as well to have the depth they lacked last year.
Uncle – What do you consider an overpay? He was projected to get $44M more than Fried, that would put Burnes at $262M.
With the market raised, what would have been an overpay a month ago is no longer one.
I worry that the fact he has not signed yet is an indication the price may be well over the $262 million. Even at that his numbers don’t convince me he will be worth that kind of money for that length of time. If they want to put that kind of money into one pitcher I just hope it turns out to be worth it, because I don’t see Henry continuing to cough up the big bucks if the Sox are carrying high dollar bad contracts. We will see.
Whoever signs Burnes for 200m+ is gonna be really regretting that decision in about 2 years.
That is exactly my fear for the Red Sox, if that is their big spend this offseason.
Uncle – I’ve often said, the only thing to fear is fear itself.
Go by logic rather than emotion.
Logic indicates Burnes is as solid an investment as you can make for a starting pitcher. He’s had excellent results since 2020, and he’s AVERAGED 189 innings since 2021.
Is it possible he sustains a serious injury during his next contract? Of course, it’s possible with any pitcher. But with Burnes you’re mitigating the risk.
No doubt they need someone who can get through as many innings as possible. I remember seeing something in one of the articles that indicated there may be some sign of decline recently in some areas of his game which makes me nervous. I was all in on them getting Burnes until seeing there may be some red flags about committing to him long term. I also am thinking he may approach $300 million which is too much for a pitcher who is already 30. On the other hand we need to get an ace to be able to compete with what the Yankees are doing.
Burnes isn’t worth the kind of money he’s looking for. Last year he won 15 games, that’s 3 more than he’s won before. He’s due for a TJ surgery. Can we say David Price de ja vue.
Uncle – Yes his velocity did decrease last year, but then it rebounded this year.
fangraphs.com/players/corbin-burnes/19361/pitch-ve…
There’s risk with every decision, but personally I prefer risking money on guys with proven results and health instead of risking top prospects on SP’s who don’t have even one season of at least 150 IP.
Between Teel and Monty, the chances are good at least one of them becomes an established MLB player for at least a decade. Lets just hope neither one ends up finding their way to a divisional rival. Especially Teel.
Yaz – I was against the Price signing because mental makeup matters a lot to me when I evaluate players and he was always soft although he did finally come through in the 2018 postseason.
Still if given the choice between Burnes now and Price 9 years ago, I’d choose Burnes.
No reason to fear that it will not happen! I don’t really blame them, he’s not worth it.
Sometimes it’s worth the overpay if that’s what elevates your pitching staff to next level. To say they would pay 700 million to soto and not 230 or 250 to burns doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
I think it does make sense based on their age. Soto is only 26 and Burnes is 30.
Step one is move Devers across the diamond. My dog plays a better third base than Devers. It’s time.
Yeah, whatever happened to that offer they were preparing for Burnes?
That was speculated after fried signed but prior to trading for crochet..the need to meet burnes price diminished significantly
Team is really nicely set up. The Crochet acquisition, because it cost so little in dollars, just makes everything so easy. Expect them to bid big and get one of Bregman/Burnes/Flaherty/Santander/Hernandez, and they still have one of the best top 3’s in the farm system of any team. Hate to say it, but unless the O’s get their heads out of their behinds you’re looking at the Sox being the best team in the AL in about a year. Maybe earlier.
Signing players is not going to happen John Henry does not do that cause a .500 team is always better then a playoff team.
Thats the opposite of what john henry said
I don’t care what John Henry said, it’s EXACTLY what John Henry does! The fact that the team that generates the 3rd most revenue in all of MLB only spends in the middle of the pack is criminal to the fans.
I just finished Jose cansecos book he released 20 years ago and even he mentioned the cheap owners problem all those years ago
Why can’t baseball change we need more young owners not these old guys that are focused on their soccer teams and t mobile jobs
Why can’t baseball change we need more young owners
===========================
It won’t make one bit of difference. Pick any year in this century at random, and I predict at least 6 teams will finish in last place or tied for last place.
Pool – When did John Henry make a public statement recently? They don’t let him talk much after the things he said in the past.
Fpg ..for some reason i still cant reply to you but hopfully you will read this…i just quote john henry makes a public comment every time sam kennedy speaks these days lol
Pool – Very true about Sam! Werner isn’t allowed to talk either.
Someone else said the same thing about replies. I’m seeing them right below mine, how are you replying then? Whatever you’re doing is working!
Sin – he’s gotta resign Mo Salah at Liverpool first and then he’ll get a second baseman, left fielder and SP.
Yeah that sounds about right for John Henry
Sad Sack – The Red Sox have Kristen Campbell (Minor League Player of the Year and top 25 prospect in all of baseball), Grissom, and Hamilton for 2B, so they will use the $ for their rotation and right handed power.
Wouldn’t really make much sense to trade Casas unless they feel like signing Walker. Everyone seems to think flipping 3rd basemen into 1st basemen is an overnight process. Alonso isn’t realistic. Where would Teo even play if Anthony is ready in 2025? Rafaela Duran and Anthony deserve playing time. Yoshida pretty much has to go. Who cares how much we pay of his remaining contract. And Abreu would have to go.
So assuming Casas isn’t included, does Mayer, Abreu, Yoshida (with most of his contract paid by Boston), and another prospect, return a top SP from Seattle (not named Castillo)?
Gilbert is a stud no question about it, but a package including a top 10 MLB SS prospect, a reigning Gold Glove rookie OF, and a veteran hitter with his salary being paid by another team, is pretty solid return. Especially for a team desperate for offense.
The Red Sox have the money to extend Crochet and sign Burnes. I don’t see the, getting a really good young pitcher or an upper tier pitcher for Casas. It is going to also cost Paxton, Bello or Houck as well. Young and top pitching is a premium.
I’m tired of hearing what they’re planning to do as they keep coming up short. They’ve yet to actually spend any money this off-season despite promises to do so, as Crochet costs them nothing in terms of dollars. Anybody they sign will be an overpay because that’s the nature of free agency. But the teams that spend, win. That’s how baseball works. Sox had $500 million in revenue last year and currently have a payroll of about $150 million. So there’s no excuse not to spend big. They wanted Snell, Dodgers got him. They wanted Fried, Yankees got him. They wanted Soto, Mets got him. At some point they need to start playing with the big boys if they wanna get serious about competing again. Stop nickel and diming this franchise. You have a Ferrari, act like it. Stop shopping at Goodwill.
Snell wanted to be in LA from the moment free agency stated and made sure it happened. Soto is massively overpaid for what he brings to the table and the Mets will soon be regretting paying a 2-tool player like he’s the best overall player in the game. Fried was the only one they kind of missed out on, and with him being a ground ball pitcher and having a suspect IF defense he was never the fit many fans thought he was in Boston. Just because the team has money to spend doesn’t mean they should piss it away unwisely. Doing things like that is how they’ve found themselves stuck with a DH who is largely not worth his contract.
And why do you think he wanted to be in LA so badly? Because they spend and they win. And while I agree that Soto isn’t worth that kind of money, the Sox are already a year late to the party to start spending money (assuming they do), as they should’ve gone all out for Ohtani last year. They passed on him because they claimed they were focused on starting pitching, forgetting the fact that he is a pitcher. Then they promptly passed on Yamamoto, Snell, Montgomery, and traded Sale for a AAA 2B.
They passed on Ohtani because he wasn’t going to be able to start at all last year and after his second TJ surgery in 5 years is a severe question mark going forward. There’s a reason LA is continuing to stockpile starters even with Ohtani supposedly returning to the rotation. Ans the Sox didn’t “pass” on Yamamoto. Again, if a player is set on signing with another team there isn’t a hell of a lot the team can do to change his mind. Snell and Montgomery sat in the shelf last winter because they were both looking for more than the market valued them at. It wasn’t just Boston unwilling to meet their asking price, so stop acting like it was.
Agreed that you get into trouble by spending unwisely. I don’t think Fried is worth the largest contract ever given to a LHP. I also doubt Burnes is worth what Boras is asking for him now. Hopefully Burnes’ price comes down.
All in – totally agree. Henry will not spend huge money on a starting pitcher over 30 years old. He was burned on the Chris Sale re-sign (3 injured years totaling around $81 million wasted), and David Price (his last 3 years Henry paid $48 million of his salary to play for the Dodgers). I frankly agree with not paying crazy money for someone in their 30’s to a long term contract.
As a Sox fan I’m beginning to lose hope in breslow and co. We’ve been hearing this all winter again. All we’ve done is acquire crochet who I like however he really only has one year as a proven starter. While he’s cheap contractually at 2.9 million that would give indication that we’ve got a ton more to spend yet Breslow and Company are over here saying everyday we’re working on it. Watching more guys go off the board each day. Offering Soto 700 million and not getting him and losing out on Fried over a couple million to your rival is unacceptable. There is no sense of urgency by this management group. Sox will end up with a couple more guys they find at a flea market that no one has ever heard of.
Totally agree. Ownership has completely cut off the ability to take on any payroll.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Talk is cheap.
Blah blah blahhhhh blah blah oh blahhhhhhhhh raaaalllllllphhh!
Yoshida, giolito, blais = Castillo + haniger from mariners? Ms give Hancock a few starts before gio ready they get a bat and a really good prospect and get outta the back end of a big contract while saving 20 mil this year.
Never any urgency with Sox. Yankees making deals while Ivy League boys are processing everything.
fba – It’s too bad Netflix has stopped filming, because it’s totally a dysfunctional front office right now.
You’ve got Breslow who SHOULD be making the decisions based on his title, but his hands are tied by Henry and Cora.
You’ve got Cora who THINKS he is already a top Red Sox front office executive by trying to force his will on Breslow and others.
And you’ve got over 300 number crunchers providing ten times more data than what’s needed, most of which is misleading or irrelevant.
Without question, agents and teams preferred dealing with Larry & Dave back in the day. Now, agents and teams avoid the Red Sox like the plague … unless of course they are looking for another Red Sox overpay.
FPG: You should be a fiction writer. You are very good at making things up.
All – Which part was made up?
Breslow’s hand’s tied = CHECK
Cora and Henry being behind the problem – CHECK
Cora’s ego glowing so bring Rudolph is jealous – CHECK
The Metric World providing useless data – CHECK
Red Sox organization considered a hot mess – CHECK
Breslow the latest to over pay for mid level talent – CHECK
Sorry All – Fever Pitch’s Christmas List is spot on.
If you can’t acquire all-star talent, you can’t win.
If you can’t move Devers to DH, you can’t win
If you can’t fire Cora, you can’t win.
Vegas has Boston wins at 81, so what’s new?
Simple, we gave away three of our best prospects to get a pitcher with a ONE YEAR track record and expect it to be repeated or improved without a spec of history to support it.
Sure wish Breslow could distinguish pretenders from legitimate star prospects. Wasting quality prospects while saving the pretenders in hopes of them becoming something is mismanagement in the worst way. Chicago should be sporting Mayer at SS until he gets hurt in 2025 not Teel, or Montgomery or even Meidroth.
Maybe we could contract Dombrowski to give Breslow a seminar on how to be a GM so the better farm hands stay, the best players win fielding positions where they are the best player and the batting order reflects the contributions of the individuals not whose close to Cora. Wouldn’t that be nice!!! See I’m positive like you!!
There is no proof that any of what FPG is saying there is true. You would need to be in the Red Sox front office to know any of that is true. I was not commenting on his Christmas list.
No interest in any Mariners deal that doesn’t include Woo and/or Miller. They said they’re untouchable so that ends it for me. Castillo is too expensive for talent we can get elsewhere for cheaper.
I agree. Why go for Castillo, which has a real prospect cost on top of 3 years of basically $24MM a year, when you can sign Flaherty or Buehler for the same amount of money and not lose anyone in trade?
That’s what Mariner fans don’t get. Castillo is not the last pitcher in the league. He’s certainly bad, but I’d bet Burnes and Flaherty will have a higher WAR/$$$ than Castillo.
Red Sox sign Walker Buhler, either Santander or Teoscar and sign Taner Scott Hoffman and another high leverage reliever. This is not rocket science and you would still be under the cap
Thec’s – Buehler the only one in their price range. Minter would be a nice, cheap lefty reliever to add..
In the outfield? I don’t see the need. Duran is rock solid hitting and defense, probably an all-star again. Abreu is loved by Cora so like Devers he won’t be replaced no matter how mediocre he is. Left Field should be designated for Anthony who should be good enough to break camp on the MLB team.
Maybe left handed reliever Tanner Scott and right handed reliever Estevez both potential closers too who are going to be $10Million or less. With Hendrik, Chapman, Tanner Scott, Estevez and Minter the team wouldn’t have to count on inexperieced relievers and have about the value of one quality SP invested in five relievers. It makes the bullpen more resilient to injuries.
Biggest problem now is no quality catcher in the future. Got to hope Wong is not a one time wonder. Plus Devers butchering 50 balls a year will hurt the chances of winning unless you put Story at 3B and Campbell at SS and Devers at DH. Then you might have a 90 win or more team. And the $20Million AAV cap would only be violated by Devers and Story.
1999 – Nice out of the box thinking? Fits the austerity program too!!
I disagree, he pitched in Cincinnati and that’s a bandbox.
Castillo can pitch not just throw. He went late in games because the Seattle offense was bad and he didn’t get any run support and gave up runs late in games
1999 – Which one of those three are as talented as Luis Castillo, even in this phase of his career???
Don’t forget about Vaughn Grissom. He’s our right handed second baseman
All this move devers to first stuff is BS. There is no bloody garuntee he can play first to save his %^^^…. It would take more time then spring training he would have to have been working on it all off season so stop it ain’t happening….
ibuititnoonecame – 100% right. Why increase his risk, prove he can’t play ANY position when it will cost you more wins than at 3B just to keep a selfish player happy? Makes no sense.
Perspective – Devers started fixing his bad defense at 3B when he was 14 which is 14 years ago. It didn’t get better. Do we want to wait until he’s 42 to figure out he can’t play 1B? Let me save you some time!!!!
HE CAN’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He plays a ok 3rd base…. I remember a certain HOF er who was horrid at 3rd and got a bit better every year “Boggs” it would make no sense to place him at first without telling him and giving him the entire winter to work at it…. Stop being so negative about the one and only stuff player we freaking have
Burnes and Teoscar and put a bow on the offseason
Would you be happy with Santander instead of Teoscar?
At this point? Sure
All – You must think $20Million AAV or less. Do either fit? NOPE.
With $99Million available I still say – If you aren’t going to help the team with an addition then at least help the team by redoing Devers contract and bring a huge bonus into 2025 and lower his AAV so there is a chance of trading him before he hits 32 and falls off the cliff hitting. Do something with that money to help the team in the future if you won’t do it now!!!
That’s an interesting idea for Devers.
1999 – All of Cincinnati.
I get that ownership is afraid of paying a guy like Burnes to pitch into his late 30’s and most likely the last 3 years of that contract will probably not be great. The thing is the that is exactly what ownership should do by signing Burnes and let’s say Scott and another bullpen arm the window opens wide for this team.
I get that Henry thinks he was burned in the past by those big free agent pitcher contracts but it’s different this time. The pitching infrastructure is wholly different now. There were a lot of pitchers that took big leaps forward. Just look at who will be starting in AAA Worcester if Burnes was signed. It would be Fitts, Priester, Dobbins, Criswell, Penrod. AA will be even more loaded with Sandlin, Early, Mullins, Monegro, Paez, Wehunt. The point is there are pitchers coming I can’t wait to see how these guys look after a full off season with Willard and the boys.
The point is by the time that Burnes is declining the Red Sox are going to have cheap cost controlled pitching. They will be able to easily make up for the declining phase of Burnes. While those guys are going to be beneficial in the future they need more in the present and a rotation of Burnes, Crochet, Houck, Bello, and Crawford is really good. Throw in a guy like Tanner Scott to the bullpen mix with Hendricks, Whitlock, Chapman, Slaten, plus whomever looks the best out of Wink, Guerrero, Wilson, and half a dozen other guys the bullpen looks good as well.
Burnes makes all the difference in the world to this team. With him and Scott this team is a 90+ win team and a real threat with a loaded team in Worcester if any injuries pop up. They really need Burnes though. Without him I think they improve but probably an 85-87 win team with health. Cmon ownership sign Burnes.
Bruin – I totally agree, if they add Burnes and Scott then not even Cora can prevent them from making the postseason.
I think the Henry hating longterm pitcher contracts is a front office excuse. Dice & Price plus the Sale extension were obviously massive failures, but there was no excuse for not signing guys like Shota, Lugo, Snell etc. They simply didn’t give a damn about winning.
Fever Pitch Guy = Why test FATE by suggesting Cora is incapable of destroying something.
Adding both players still leaves big issues:
1 – Devers on Defense making 50 misplays a season
2 – Cora making line-ups and in game decisions
3 – Counting on a catcher whose had ONE good year
4 – Cora has yet to be successful with an elite pitcher
5 – Cora will still choose when to use the improved bullpen
6 – The Dominican influence by Cora will prevent the best team from starting and it will give the bench guys more playing time than they deserve.
Devers and Cora. Two words that throw fear in the hearts of all good Red Sox fans who realize the damage that can be done even if the roster improves.
FYI… No signs in the ownership group that the $20Million AAV cap will be exceeded so Burnes seems highly unlikely as much as we need him.
Saga – i’ve been reading your reference to Cora and the Dominican influence. If it mattered at all, and it doesnt, Cora is Puerto Rican. And, not only that, but Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are historical rivals in all things, including baseball. Moreover, the Sox have only two Dominicans of note on their team, Devers and Bello. Name the manager in mlb that wouldnt play those two guys? So, its time to move beyond that.
Second, as i’ve mentioned a million times here, Devers defense isnt stellar by any means, but the organization has done him no favors in trying to support and improve that. Numbers can be made to make any case, I can find metrics that say Devers wasn’t the worst player at the position last year (although still in the bottom third).
Lets all focus on how this team can improve its lineup, and pitching staff, before we offend our best player by making him move against his will.
There are plenty of examples of really good teams carrying a defensive liability everyday in the field. Surely having a plus defender at SS or 2B and an adequate 1B isnt too much to ask, is it?
Sag – Because they managed to win in 2018 despite him ;O)
Still 33 top free agents available, I’m hoping for a Christmas Miracle!!!
SPEND THE MONEY IN FREE AGENCY! BURNS, SCOTT, BREGMAN. NO TRADES DRAWING FROM THE BIG 3 OR THE MLB CLUB. TRADE YOSHIDA, GONZALES, HAMILTON OR REFSNYDER. SPEND THE MONEY BOSTON WE FANS HAVE WAITED 6 LONG YEARS FOR YOU TO GET REAL!
The solution is out there…
This would not only fulfill my Christmas list
Sign Burnes & then Flaherty (or trade for Castillo)…imagine our rotation!?!
Sign Scott for the pen.
Sign Teoscar Hernandez if we end up trading Abreu.
Sign multi-position player (2b, SS, OF if needed) Amed Rosario.
Then last I knew Elias Diaz was still available as well to back up Wong. ♂️
All problems solved on paper & on field if all goes well plus we would still be under the threshold, have a great pitching staff & RH bats…we call that “full throttle” & “raising the ceiling” or aka being very competitive!!!
FO get off your thumbs & get things done…it’s been way to long!
We are NOT moving Raffy to 1b ever! Never! DH maybe that’s it, but not while Yoshida is on the team. Spend money of free agents Burns, Scott, Bregman and head to spring training already
baseballguru – So did I understand you correctly. You don’t want to reduce official errors by a dozen or two and total mishaps at 3B by close to 40 because you want Yoshida to be the DH? What do you suppose the differential would be in errors if Yoshida played LF and Devers DH’d?
3B gets far more Total Chances so the damage by bad defense by Yoshida would be a rounding error compared to the damage by Devers. Couldn’t we just play Yoshida in the OF and play Campbell or Rafaela at 3B and save a couple of dozen errors? Would that be an adequate solution?
I want Boston to win and they can’t if Devers is allowed a fielding glove. Statistically the worst 3B in the history of the Red Sox and the worst 3B in the MLB since the dead ball era. That has to make you think maybe keeping Devers at 3B is an incredibly bad move.
“Burnes, Flaherty or Castillo, clearly, would represent a potential major upgrade to a rotation already including Crochet, Giolito, Houck, Bello and Crawford.” What a mouthful. Why is “clearly” after all that when it reads much better as “would clearly?” Stop obfuscating the point.
There also shouldn’t be commas around “in turn.”