Building A Garrett Crochet Trade To The San Diego Padres

With the recent news that the Padres are interested in making a deal with the Padres for Garrett Crochet, it signals that the White Sox are truly open for business this trade deadline season. They will listen on every single player on the roster, even the best of the best. It seems Chris Getz wants to make his mark on this team and get his players on this roster.

Getz should not trade certain players like Crochet or Luis Robert Jr. to just trade them, as that would make zero sense. Getz needs to hold firm on a steep price tag, as both players have team control for the next 2+ years and they are the two best players on the team. It should take an overpay by a team to get either one of them, making an offer the White Sox cannot refuse. Here is what it could take for the White Sox to pull the trigger on a Crochet trade with the Padres:

Chris Getz is very familiar with the Padres farm system and their GM, as they made a significant trade in the offseason, sending pitcher Dylan Cease to the Padres for three prospects. Now, the Padres are looking to strike another deal, again trying to acquire our best pitcher.

The familiarity with the farm system should help facilitate a trade, but this time it might cost the Padres significantly more. Crochet is just 24 years old and has 2.5 years of control left. There are not many 24 year old aces available on the trade market, so his price should likely be higher than Cease.

Now, the Padres have no shortage of young talent, as they currently have the #5 prospect in all of baseball, Ethan Salas, an 18 year old catcher, as well as 21 year old outfielder Jackson Merrill. But, I’m not sure that either of those players are available in a trade, as they are both very highly regarded around the league. If not, I’m not sure that the Padres would be the best trade partner, as the rest of their farm system likely isn’t as appealing to the White Sox.

The White Sox need bats, as the pitching throughout the minor league system is stacked. They have six pitchers in AA with MLB potential and are close to debuting. Now, that shouldn’t prevent the White Sox from adding talent, but they should target deals with a top bat rather than a top arm. You can never have too much pitching, but with the current makeup of the White Sox system, the headliner should be a bat.

The Padres still have three other top prospects, but they might not fit in the White Sox farm system. They have Robby Snelling, a top 30 prospect, and he might be one of the better pitching prospects in baseball, but that isn’t currently the White Sox issue, as they have a lot of arms in the farm system. If he was the headliner in the deal, I surely wouldn’t be mad, but I would prefer a top bat instead.

Their next top prospect is Dylan Lesko, who is currently ranked #69 on the MLB Prospect list, but he also is a starting pitcher. They do have a shortstop, Leodalis De Vries, who is 17 and already ranked 79th, so that could be a target of the White Sox. He is not close to the major leagues, which could fit in the White Sox plans, but it is very unclear on when Chris Getz is trying to compete.

If a deal were to get done with the Padres, it should start at one of Salas or Merrill. If they can’t get that done, which is the likely outcome, a deal with Snelling and De Vries would be a very strong package. It would allow the White Sox to have three top 40 pitching prospects (Shultz, Snelling, and Thorpe) which would be elite.

If the White Sox can get one of Salas or Merrill, or a package of Snelling and De Vries, the Padres could be a perfect trade partner. If they can’t, then they will have to look elsewhere to get a deal that fits in more with the current make up of the White Sox minor leagues, as they have a lot of position player holes to fill.