With Major League Baseball free agency underway, all 30 teams are free to engage with a marketplace that's overflowing with elite talent this winter. Most of the big names will start coming off the board when the MLB Winter Meetings take place in December.
While much of the focus of this hot stove season will be placed on the landing spots for marquee free agents like Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, Tanner Scott and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, a number of teams will seek help on the developing trade market. All eyes will be directed at the Chicago White Sox, who have made it known that stud left-handed starter Garett Crochet is available to any team willing to meet the Pale Hose's understandably steep asking price.
Phillies’ top competition for Garrett Crochet trade is the Dodgers, the worst team possible
The Phillies were one of a large group of MLB teams that made a run at acquiring Crochet at this year's trade deadline. The White Sox found themselves in the seller's role in July, with the team already well on pace to break the 1962 New York Mets' record for most losses in a season, which they eventually accomplished in September.
While the White Sox completed a few trades at the deadline, including sending left-handed reliever Tanner Banks to the Phillies in exchange for minor league infielder William Bergolla, the Sox ultimately held on to Crochet and have been listening to offers on the young and controllable southpaw since MLB business reopened last week.
While the Phillies have expressed continued interest in Crochet, they are far from alone as a number of contenders are reported to be engaging with the White Sox in trade talks. A recent article from USA Today's Bob Nightengale indicated that the White Sox would like to have a deal in place by the end of the Winter Meetings next month and that the Phillies face some unwelcome competition in the pursuit of Crochet.
"No already-employed player was sought after more at these GM meetings than Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet," wrote Nightengale. "Who struck out 209 batters in 146 innings and earned only $800,000 last season. The White Sox have openly told teams he’s available and are expected to trade him by the end of the winter meetings, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers the most aggressive."
The interest in Crochet by the 2024 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers is not good news if the Phillies are strongly considering making a trade with the White Sox in December. With nearly unlimited resources and a roster of MVP-level talent such as Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, the Dodgers will have little hesitation to consummate a deal with the White Sox if the asking price is a package of LA's top prospects.
White Sox GM Chris Getz won't just trade Crochet, and his two years of team control remaining for a package that doesn't meet the team's needs as a rebuilding ball club. According to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, Getz and the White Sox are seeking to add players based on a very specific need this offseason.
“We are focusing on position-player return,” said Getz, per Van Schouwen. “That is our primary focus in any trade talks. We need to improve our offense.”
The Phillies have exactly what the White Sox are looking for, especially if the team makes young position players like Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh available for trade this winter. The asking price will certainly also include top prospects such as Justin Crawford, Aidan Miller and Staryln Caba, all position players currently ranked in the top five as the best prospects in the Phillies system by MLB Pipeline.
While the Phillies are reportedly strongly considering moving Bohm or Marsh this offseason, a deal like this will certainly carry a greater emphasis placed on the White Sox acquiring Phillies prospects that are close to being MLB ready. The Phillies are more than capable of meeting whatever the White Sox have set as an asking price for Crochet, but the Dodgers have shown that they will blow other teams out of the water to get the players they want.
Will the Phillies offer enough to sway the White Sox into trading Crochet? Or will the Dodgers add to their embarrassment of riches this offseason with another stealth move? Circle December 9-12 on your calendar for the start of the Winter Meetings next month. Some serious business is about to go down.