Guardians Land Garrett Crochet In Trade Proposal With White Sox

The MLB trade deadline is approaching, which means we will be hearing a whole lot about potential Guardians trades, especially involving starting pitchers.

Jun 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (45) throws the ball against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians need starting pitching, and Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet may end up being the best pitcher available at the MLB trade deadline.

Perhaps the Guardians should take a swing at him?

Crochet has already been mentioned as a potential trade target for Cleveland, and Jim Bowden of The Athletic has created a trade package for the Guardians to acquire him.

Bowden has Cleveland sending starting pitcher Gavin Williams and prospects Ralphy Velazquez and Alex Clemmey to the White Sox in exchange for Crochet.

Williams just made his 2024 debut after missing the first several months of the season due to an elbow injury and got rocked for five runs in four innings in a loss to, you guessed it, Chicago.

However, Williams is just 24 years old and was a highly-regarded prospect going into his rookie campaign last year, when he went 3-5 with a 3.29 ERA over 16 starts.

Meanwhile, Velazquez is an impressive prospect at first base and boasts an .836 OPS at Single-A Lynchburg thus far this year. Clemmey is a 2023 second-round pick who has struggled with his control at Lynchburg in 2024, walking 40 batters over 52.1 innings. However, he has also registered 71 strikeouts.

Given how highly Williams has been touted and the fact that Velasquez is just 19 years old and is already mashing, this may seem like a rather steep price to pay for Crochet, who has a Tommy John surgery in his rearview mirror and had never made a start prior to 2024.

But the Guardians desperately need to bolster their starting rotation if they want to make a serious push for a World Series, and Crochet may very well be their best option.

Of course, Cleveland may have to pay an AL Central tax in any trade with the White Sox. Chicago is not going to want to give Crochet to a division rival. So, the Sox may end up asking for more in return from the Guardians than they would from, say, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Plus, Crochet is under team control through 2026, and the pool of available starting pitchers leading up to July 30 seems to be very thin. Because of those factors, the White Sox may ask for the farm.

All of that being said, if the Guardians want to compete for a championship come October, they may have to just bite the bullet.