Now that Juan Soto is officially off the free agent board, the rest of the dominos are starting to fall as well as the Winter Meetings kick into full gear. We’ve recently seen reports that there are two new teams in the mix for Garrett Crochet as the White Sox continue to make it known that they’re planning to trade him – and that trade could happen this week.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Brewers are the latest team to join the Crochet conversation, making it three NL Central teams (Reds, Cubs, Brewers) now connected to the left-hander.
This comes following reports from Chris Cotillo of Mass Live on Sunday afternoon that the Yankees – who have been connected to both Max Fried and Corbin Burnes as well – are still having conversations about Crochet following the team’s inability to trade for him at this year’s trade deadline.
Brewers players who make sense as part of a return for Crochet include catcher Jeferson Quero, right-handed pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, infielder Jesus Made, and infielder Cooper Pratt, with Made considered the team’s top prospect to start 2025 by Baseball America. He’s just 18 years old and has yet to play baseball in the United States, so there is plenty of concern despite his impressive numbers in the Dominican Summer League last year (.331/.458/.554, 6 HR, 28 SB in 51 games). Quero is the furthest along among the three hitters listed above but did not play last season due to a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. As a 20-year-old in Double-A in 2023, he hit .262/.339/.440 in 90 games.
The Yankees still feature similar trade chips as those mentioned during the trade deadline: outfielder Jasson Dominguez, fist baseman/outfielder Spencer Jones, and infielder Roderick Arias are among those with the most value. However, with the Yankees losing out on Juan Soto to the Mets, it seems rather unlikely that they’d be willing to trade Dominguez, who just saw an outfield position open up.
In truth, it would probably be difficult for the Brewers to assemble a trade package as the return would likely have to include all of Quero, Pratt, and Made. This goes for the Yankees as well, whose depleted farm system has them focusing on adding major league talent via free agency to fortify a team that made the World Series last year.
There is further speculation from some – including our own Michael Suareo – that the Brewers and Reds are being floated as potential destinations for Crochet to drive up the price from the Cubs as it relates to Crochet. As mentioned by Cotillo above, the Red Sox are also rumored not to be as deep in the hunt as perhaps initially reported, but things could certainly change following both the signing of Juan Soto and the Yankees entering the mix of teams
As we continue to get more information, we will provide further updates throughout the Winter Meetings.
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