The Phillies missed out on stud pitcher Garrett Crochet
Although Garrett Crochet ultimately wasn’t moved at the trade deadline, he was actually one of the most coveted starters over the past couple of months. It turns out that the Phillies were actually aggressively pursuing the 25-year-old starter.
According to Stark and his sources, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski chased Crochet all the way to the deadline, per Roche.
With Dombrowski known to go after the best of the best, Crochet has definitely been one of them this season. Over 22 starts so far in 2024, Crochet has compiled a stellar 3.23 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, while leading the AL with a 2.43 FIP and a strikeout rate of 12.6 batters per nine innings en route to the first-ever All-Star appearance of his career.
There’s no doubt that the cost to obtain his services would have been high. It would have likely required multiple top-10 prospects to get a deal done while heading into obvious overpay territory. But the unique opportunity to add a potential ace starter with three more years of control to an already potent Phillies starting rotation would have been worth the huge gamble.
In the end, the Phillies could have had the best starting five in all of baseball, but that is now not to be.