ClutchPoints
The Philadelphia Phillies have been among the league’s best over the past three seasons, but thus far, it has not resulted in a World Series breakthrough. In fact, the Phillies have gone backwards since making the World Series in 2022, falling short in the NLCS and NLDS, respectively, in 2023 and 2024. Thus, they are recognizing the need for them to shake things up — eyeing Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet in the process.
Crochet was one of the best pitchers in the entire MLB in 2024, and the White Sox, understandably, are driving a hard bargain in trade talks for the 25-year-old lefty. The Phillies, however, are trying their best to put together a worthwhile trade package that would convince the White Sox to deal away Crochet — with the package being based around one of the best prospects in their system, shortstop Justin Crawford, as per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Crawford, however, isn’t enough to get a deal done even though he was ranked within the top 100 prospects in the league by the analysts over at MLB.com. One of the major pieces that the Phillies are trying to send the White Sox’s way in addition Crawford, according to Nightengale, is third baseman Alec Bohm — their everyday player at the hot corner. (Nick Castellanos is also reportedly on the trade block, but there was no mention of his potential involvement in a Crochet trade.)
Bohm had the best season of his career in 2024, tallying 3.5 WAR (per Fangraphs) thanks to his strong defense and above-average production at the plate (15 HR, 97 RBI, .280/.332/.448 slash line). Thus, for a White Sox team in dire need of some talent infusion, acquiring an above-average third baseman with two years of team control left is far from the worst idea.
However, per Nightengale, the White Sox are “concerned” about Bohm’s struggles to end last season — giving them pause regarding a Phillies trade package centered around the 28-year-old third baseman.
The Phillies’ greatest strength in 2024 was their starting pitching; they had four of the best starters in the MLB, with their front four of Zack Wheeler, Christopher Suarez, Ranger Suarez, and Aaron Nola combining for 16.8 WAR (per Fangraphs). If they were to add Garrett Crochet, that five-man rotation should be as good as it gets — perhaps even challenging for best of all-time status in terms of depth.
If Alec Bohm were to go to the White Sox in a Crochet trade, the Phillies would reportedly set their sights on adding Alex Bregman in free agency to fill the void, according to Nightengale.
The post MLB rumors: The Garrett Crochet trade Phillies are pitching White Sox appeared first on ClutchPoints.
