Was Crochet right to demand an extension?

It can't be fun playing for the Chicago White Sox, who are in the midst of a franchise-record 15-game losing streak and might set a new modern-era record for losses. And yet two days before the MLB trade deadline, All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet seemingly made it more difficult for himself to get out of the South Side, reportedly demanding a contract extension in order to pitch in the postseason. Why would he do that?

The 25-year-old is having a Cy Young-caliber breakout campaign, authoring a 3.23 ERA and league-leading 2.42 FIP over 114 1/3 innings in his first season as a starter. But his odds of securing a new deal from a new employer in the middle of the season have to be zero.

Surely, then, with no team willing to meet the demand, his trade value tanked. Right?

White Sox general manager Chris Getz's comments after the deadline suggest otherwise.

"Garrett has had strong interest from clubs for obvious reasons," Getz said Tuesday, adding that the White Sox "were having discussions with clubs up until the last hour."

Getz's explanation is an interesting one since the former big-league journeyman was quick to say he was "surprised" by Crochet's demands. He even criticized the young lefty.

"That's not exactly the tactic that I would've taken, being a former player, quite honestly," Getz said Monday.

Of course, Getz, still in his first full year as the club's GM, hit three homers over his mostly forgettable MLB career and would've never been afforded an opportunity to use a tactic like this to secure his financial future. In fact, between getting drafted in 2005 and retiring after 2014, Getz accrued 1.4 WAR in the majors, according to FanGraphs. This year alone, Crochet boasts 4.1 WAR.

And that's really what this all comes down to. Crochet wasn't thinking about his trade value, or which team might no longer be interested in him because of his request, or even how this demand would be perceived by his current employer. He was thinking, rightly, about himself, while pitching for one of the worst teams ever assembled.

Crochet is a 25-year-old flamethrower enjoying a breakout campaign who already missed an entire season due to Tommy John surgery. While the stigma around UCL reconstruction has dwindled somewhat, it's still no guarantee that pitchers bounce back from it, and repeat procedures continue to be viewed as steps toward forced retirement.

The former first-rounder has been nothing short of incredible for the abysmal White Sox, but he's making $800,000 this year - less than teammate Dominic Leone, for instance - and is beholden to salary suppression via arbitration for the next two seasons before being eligible to test free agency in 2027.

In 2015, a different All-Star pitcher who had missed the previous season due to Tommy John attempted to impose a 180-innings limit on himself. With his team - the New York Mets - hurtling toward postseason contention, he wound up waiving that demand due to pressure from within and outside the organization, and threw a total of 216 innings, including the playoffs. After that, Matt Harvey was never the same. He fell short of 100 frames the next two seasons, sustained multiple injuries, including thoracic outlet syndrome, and attempted a series of comebacks with multiple teams.

Harvey's career regular-season performance

That is an incomplete, oversimplified story of Harvey, but it serves as a cautionary and necessary tale for young pitchers. Don't risk further injury before you are able to earn financial security.

Crochet was not only right to make what some may see as a controversial demand, but he must do everything he can to prevent himself from becoming the next Matt Harvey.