When the Boston Red Sox reeled in pitching stud Garrett Crochet in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox, it sure stung the hearts of the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans. After all, the Phillies had highly-coveted the star 25-year-old left-hander ever since the 2024 trade deadline.
But after seeing what the Red Sox offered for Crochet, many wondered what the Phillies would have had to give up to beat out their main competitors for his services. Well, the Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently revealed what they actually had on the table at one point in time, and Philadelphia fans will definitely be shocked to hear what the offer encompassed.
Phillies weren't willing to part with as many top prospects for Garrett Crochet as we thought
As reported by Matt Gelb of The Athletic, in addition to top outfield prospect Justin Crawford along with some lower-level prospects, the Phillies had actually included their No. 1 prospect Aidan Miller in the Crochet trade discussions with the White Sox (subscription required) close to the July 30 deadline, according to sources.
That certainly comes as a total surprise to many, as Miller was once thought to be part of their "untouchables" list along with top pitching prospect Andrew Painter. Especially when Miller was amid a breakout season in which he traversed three minor league levels while posting a solid .261 average and .811 OPS, with 64 runs scored, 28 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs, 60 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 102 games. In doing so, he was named Baseball America’s 2024 Minor League Player of the Year for the Phillies.
But even with Miller, Crawford and others included, the White Sox still wouldn’t budge as they insisted that Painter be part of the trade deal. At least the Phillies were smart to hang onto the potential future ace of their rotation. So when the Phillies balked at that stipulation, so went their attempt to trade for Crochet at the deadline as well.
Gelb went on to further elaborate that the Phillies no longer offered both Miller and Crawford in trade talks with Chicago this offseason. So if it didn’t work back at the trade deadline when both were actually included, there’s no doubt that it wasn’t going to work now.
So what has caused the sudden change from their stance of potentially going all-in for an elite ace?
"We have four quality starting pitchers. And we have a young pitcher coming right behind them (Painter) that we like a whole lot," Dombrowski said on Wednesday from the Winter Meetings, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "So to give up that type of talent ... We’ve had (Alec) Bohm, (Bryson) Stott, (Brandon) Marsh, (Cristopher) Sánchez, (Johan) Rojas, but we really rode out the development of our farm system over the last few years. And we’re just getting to the point of having the impact of those guys. It’s not quite here, but we’re on the verge of having some really good young players.”
It’s a good thing that Dombrowski has carefully envisioned the future of the Phillies. Otherwise, a good chunk of their future might have been sacrificed for Crochet. For the club to have sustained success, there needs to be a steady influx of internal high-end talent. By holding on to Miller, Painter and company, the foregoing of the trade for Crochet could actually be a blessing in disguise for the Phillies’ long-term success.