Garrett Crochet has become one of the most talented and sought-after pitchers in Major League Baseball. He was the talk of the 2024 trade deadline and was getting a lot of interest from contending teams.
With how bad the Chicago White Sox were this season, they were lucky to have a few great trade options. White Sox GM Chris Getz said they wouldn't trade Crochet unless their asks were met.
This meant a deal for Crochet would be a tough decision for any potential suitor. Then, we learned that Crochet and his representation allegedly wouldn't agree to pitch in the postseason unless the team he was traded to signed him to a contract extension.
That fact was unknown to Getz and made trading the power-throwing lefty all the more difficult. According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Dodgers, Phillies, and Braves were all said to be interested in Crochet ahead of the trade deadline,
Olney stated. "The White Sox believed that the Dodgers had enough to make a deal without top catching prospect Dalton Rushing included, but that offer from L.A. never developed. The Phillies turned down the White Sox's request for top pitching prospect Andrew Painter as part of the package. The Braves had lots of pitching to offer, but the White Sox preferred a deal for position players."
Garrett Crochet, K'ing the Side in the 2nd. pic.twitter.com/E32dfyfqdd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 21, 2024
Atlanta was in a great position if Chicago wanted more pitching in a trade. However, wanting position players is a whole different ballpark as Atlanta doesn't have very many of them available. This would mean Drake Baldwin, Nacho Alvarez Jr., and others would have been asked for.
However, no deal ended up being made and many saw this as a mistake on the White Sox end. That doesn't mean he won't be traded this offseason and the Braves will certainly be considering adding his services in 2025 as they will need starting pitching.
Olney explained that rival evaluators disagree that it was a mistake to hold on to Crochet. He stated, "Getz thinks Crochet will have at least the same trade value this winter, when teams in need of an ace will have more time to weigh the choice between paying big dollars for free agents like Blake Snell or dealing prospects for Crochet."
Garrett Crochet would be a perfect addition to the Braves rotation as his metrics in 2024 are off the charts in almost every category. The only areas of concern are his numbers with barrel and hard-hit percentage. Otherwise, his numbers for strikeout (35.1), walk (5.5), chase (33.4), and whiff (32.9) percentage are mind-blowing.
His ERA in 2024 is 3.68 over 31 games with a 6-12 record. It's hard to win games when your team is on the cusp of losing the most games in MLB history. Chicago is 38-120 this season and that is hard to believe a team could be that bad.
Through 142 innings, Crochet has walked just 32 batters but struck out 203 of them. His strikeouts are the eighth most across Major League Baseball.
He would be a perfect addition to the Braves rotation as they could lose two starters this offseason. Max Fried is a free agent and Charlie Morton may decide to retire once the season concludes. Adding a power-throwing lefty into the mix would be incredibly valuable for Atlanta and Crochet could learn a thing or two from Chris Sale.
It feels like a match made in heaven for the Braves but we will have to wait and see what happens.