Garrett Crochet will probably be the best player traded at the deadline. Could the Phillies have interest?

The Phillies have one of the best rotations in baseball. Is that enough to keep them out of the crowded trade market for starting pitchers? It may not be.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported on Tuesday night that the Phillies are “looking for rotation upgrades” and mentioned two names: Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox and Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers.

Flaherty, who has a 3.13 ERA in 17 starts with Detroit, is probably the best rental starter who will definitely get traded at the deadline. Crochet is probably going to be the best player traded at the deadline, period.

The 25-year-old Crochet has some of the best stuff in baseball. He leads the American League in strikeouts (150) and FIP (2.35) and has a 3.02 ERA in 20 starts. The left-hander will be highly coveted by true contenders like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles, who are desperate for high end starting pitching. For the Phillies, adding Crochet to a rotation that already includes Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez would be a luxury.

The biggest red flag regarding Crochet is the innings total. He is at 107 1/3 innings, which is more than double his previous high of 54 1/3 in the big leagues 2021. He reached 65 innings while pitching for the University of Tennessee. 2024 is his first full season back after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2022. He returned a relatively short 13 months after the procedure in May 2023, but missed most of the season due to a shoulder injury.

The Phillies theoretically would not need to count on Crochet to occupy a rotation spot for the remainder of the 2024 season. They could use him as part of a six-man in August, then transition him back to a relief role before the start of the postseason. Crochet was thrown into the White Sox bullpen just weeks after being drafted in the first round in 2020. In 2021, Crochet posted a 2.82 ERA across 54 games as a setup man.

If the Phillies are confident that the innings won’t eventually catch up to him this year and that he could be effective out of the bullpen in the playoffs, maybe it’s worth exploring a trade for Crochet, especially if it means it keeps him away from another contender.

A trade for Crochet would probably require the Phillies to give up one of Andrew Painter or Aidan Miller as part of a prospect package. Crochet is under team control through 2026. Perhaps a Painter and Miller-led package could net the Phillies both Crochet and star center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

It all sounds nuts, but we’re still a week away from the trade deadline. Preliminary discussions are happening, but front offices are still in throw stuff against the wall mode. The Phillies have to prepare for every scenario that could come up this week, including a devastating injury to one of their top four starters. That could change everything and maybe the Phillies have to pivot towards seriously looking for a starter in that scenario.

But if there’s anything to take away from Morosi’s report, it’s that it is encouraging that the Phillies are at least entertaining the idea of thinking big.

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