The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers were reportedly interested in trading for Garrett Crochet at the deadline, among other teams. In Philly’s case, they opted to stand pat for a very good reason — the White Sox asking price.
Chicago was interested in prospect Andrew Painter, a young pitcher with ace potential. The Phillies starting rotation is loaded with talent, so they by no means have to keep Painter, but they sure weren’t going to ship him to the south side for a pitcher who might not be postseason-eligible. Still, given Painter’s injury status, perhaps Dave Dombrowski should’ve taken the White Sox seriously.
Painter still has a long way to go before he’s MLB-ready, as he underwent Tommy John surgery this spring. The hope is that Painter will be ready for the 2025 season. He’s barely pitched above Double-A, and likely won’t be called up to the majors until late next season if all goes well. That’s one heck of a timeline, and a lot of what if’s.
Should the Phillies regret not trading Andrew Painter to the White Sox?
Prospect hoarding is common around MLB front offices at the deadline. Even Dave Dombrowski is no exception. Painter could be an ace if he’s able to stay healthy, sure, but Crochet already is one. Not to mention, Crochet is under contract through the 2026 season. For a Phillies team that is win-now in every sense of that phrase, it’s odd they didn’t take Chicago up on their offer, assuming the rest of the trade package wasn’t unreasonable.
Crochet will be available this offseason, as well. The Dodgers were among the interested parties the first time around, and they’ll call Getz once their season ends in October. The National League is an arms race between the Dodgers, Phillies and Braves for the most roster supremacy.
Adding Crochet would have applied more pressure on Los Angeles, which despite their injury woes could very well win the pennant. Last I checked, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are still on the roster.
Painter is as far from a sure thing as any top-40 prospect in baseball. He could work out, but few would have blamed the Phillies for trading an injury-riddled pitching prospect for an AL Cy Young candidate.
Be the first to comment