Garrett Crochet highlights this offseason’s crop of trade targets. He’s one of the bright young arms in the game, comes with multiple years of control, and it’s essentially a foregone conclusion that he’ll be traded before the start of the 2025 campaign.
Several insiders and MLB executives have mentioned the Braves as a potential landing spot. Atlanta has a glaring need for more starting pitching with Charlie Morton and Max Fried testing free agency, and Crochet’s insistence on signing a contract extension with his new club is something the Braves have done a lot in the past. The fit makes perfect sense, but the competitive market for an arm like his could drive the price past Alex Anthopoulos’ comfort zone.
Perhaps the Braves biggest competition for the services of Garrett Crochet lies inside the NL East. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Phillies are in negotiations with the White Sox for Crochet, with the talks centered around a package that includes third baseman Alec Bohm and top prospect Justin Crawford.
“They (The Phillies) have been shopping outfielder Nick Castellanos for nearly two years and now are making third baseman Alec Bohm available,” Nightengale writes.
“They have spoken about Bohm and outfield prospect Justin Crawford in extensive trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for starter Garrett Crochet, but the White Sox are concerned with Bohm’s struggles the second half, posting a .681 OPS with just four home runs.”
For the life of me, I have absolutely no idea why the White Sox would have any interest in acquiring Alec Bohm. He’s abysmal defensively at third base and was so bad offensively to end the season that the Phillies ended up benching him in the playoffs. Beyond that, he doesn’t line up with Chicago’s timeline at all, set to become a free agent at the end of the 2026 season. It’s going to take a ton more than just Alec Bohm for the Phillies to land Crochet, and again, I don’t even know why the White Sox would even want to trade for him.
Still, the Phillies interest is notable. They are the reigning NL East champions and are eager to get over the mountain and win the World Series for the first time since 2008. Philadelphia feels they are as close as any team, and acquiring Garrett Crochet would put them in a fantastic position to repeat as division champions.
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Photo: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire
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