Dodgers Linked to All-Star Ace, ‘Greatest Difference-Maker’ on Trade Market

Getty Pitcher Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are seeking a starting pitcher ahead of the MLB trade deadline and are willing to spend the money to acquire the best of the best.

That was in a July 29 report from ESPN insider Buster Olney, who linked the Dodgers to trade talks for first-time All-Star Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox.

“The Dodgers continue to work on getting a starting pitcher,” Olney wrote. “If they aren’t afraid of Garrett Crochet’s contract demands, they could land perhaps the greatest difference-maker of the trade market. So often in Andrew Friedman’s tenure as leader of the Dodgers, he lands the best and the biggest at the deadline, and rival executives say that L.A. is flashing its wallet — and is willing to take on dollars in a way that other teams are not.”

Dodgers Would Land ‘Lamborghini’ of MLB Trade Market in Deal for Garrett Crochet

GettyPitcher Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox.

Whatever the Dodgers do, it will have to happen fast, as the deadline passes at 6 p.m. Eastern time on July 30.

In a piece published on July 19, Olney described Crochet as the “Lamborghini” of the 2024 trade market with versatility beyond his primary function as a dominant starting pitcher.

“That could be as a starting pitcher down the stretch, and then perhaps as a dominant reliever in the postseason,” Olney wrote.

Crochet, 25, earned his first trip to the All-Star game this season during his fifth year as a professional. He missed all of the 2022 campaign due to injury but has slammed the proverbial door on any doubts about his durability as the American League’s current leader in games started (22) as of Monday.

Crochet is also a strikeout artist, leading the AL in total strikeouts with 160 and strikeouts per 9 innings with 12.6, according to Baseball Reference. His record is only 6-8, though a good deal of that is owed to a White Sox team that is far and away the worst group in baseball with a record of 27-81 and a run differential of -218.

Garrett Crochet Wants Extension Before Pitching in Playoffs

GettyChicago White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have a comfortable 6.5-game lead in the National League West Division over the San Diego Padres and are within shouting distance of the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the NL.

Given Los Angeles’ position in the playoff hunt and with regard to its finances, the organization may be more willing to to accept Crochet’s odd trade/contract demands.

“Crochet’s plan is to keep starting for the White Sox (or whomever acquires him) for health maintenance purposes, but only to pitch in October if there’s an extension,” Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on July 25. “You can’t blame the superb reliever-turned-starter with one Tommy John [surgery] on his ledger … for being concerned about his heath.”

Olney added on Monday that the Dodgers are among a handful of big-market contenders “who refuse to be empty-handed” after the deadline passes early Tuesday evening. That doesn’t mean LA will land Crochet, who Heyman noted has a wide market across MLB, but it does indicate with a high degree of certainty that a splashy move from the Dodgers is coming in the very near future.