The calendar has officially turned to June, which means the rumor mill has begun to swirl again.
Just a few hours after Jeff Passan’s report that the White Sox are open for business and willing to trade any player on the roster, Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Padres are pursuing a trade with the White Sox for yet another starting pitcher: Garrett Crochet.
Crochet, 24, is 5-5 on the season with a 3.49 ERA and 2.88 FIP. He has shown excellent command to go along with his strikeout stuff, walking just 5.4% of batters while striking out 33.7% of them. The left-hander is under contract for the next two seasons as an arbitration-eligible player and is making just $800K this season, so to say he is a cost-controlled player would be an understatement.
The report says that no deal is imminent, especially considering that the Padres – after a flurry of trades that have included Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez – may no longer have the prospect capital necessary to land a big player in return. Two of their highest-profile pieces – Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries – are considered off the table unless the team is set to receive an established star in return. Crochet is good, but he likely doesn’t qualify for this category, especially considering Salas is ranked as the #6 prospect in all of baseball. Dylan Lesko, Robby Snelling, and Adam Mazur may be among the pieces of interest to the White Sox – however, with many of the organization’s top prospects as pitchers, the White Sox may be trying to target bats in any trade of this kind.
As for more details on Passan’s report, well, the White Sox consider just about everyone to be on the table in discussions. While teams are unlikely to meet the team’s price on Luis Robert Jr. or even Crochet in the regular season, it does not mean either is off the table heading into the offseason. Per Passan:
“The worst team in baseball is open for business. Outfielder Tommy Pham might be the most certain plater of any to be dealt, but there are no sacred cows on the South Side… as the White Sox’s rebuild kicks into gear, don’t underestimate the willingness of new general manager Chris Getz to tear down even more than he already has.”
– Jeff Passan via ESPN
Luis Robert Jr., Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech, Tim Hill, Paul DeJong, Mike Clevinger, and the aforementioned Pham are all mentioned in the article.
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