With the White Sox currently being as bad as they are, they have White Sox fans looking to the trade deadline to give them some sort of excitement for the future, as they could make significant changes that could impact the future of the franchise.
As the deadline approaches in about a month, rumors have been swirling all over the place for many different White Sox players, but today, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers, who the White Sox are currently playing, have interest in both Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet.
This is very interesting, as it comes on the heels of an Athletic article that reported the White Sox are focusing on the Dodgers farm system for potential deadline trades. The White Sox do have a track record of trades with the Dodgers, so this should come as no surprise, as it seems both teams have a good relationship.
Now, the hard part is giving up enough value to the White Sox that they feel comfortable pulling the trigger on a trade for Crochet and Robert Jr. At this point, I don’t believe that the White Sox would include both in a trade, as they both have extremely high value, so it is unlikely that a team could match the value for one of the two, let alone both.
If the Dodgers were interested in both, I genuinely believe that it would take six or seven of the Dodgers top-10 prospects to get the deal done. Crochet had 2.5 years of cheap control and he has proven to be one of the best young pitchers in the game and Robert Jr had an MVP caliber season last year and is finally getting back on track this season as well. Alone, both would likely require 2+ top 100 prospects, so 6-7 out of a team’s top 10 wouldn’t be out of the question. Now, I don’t believe that either team would realistically do that, so it is likely that they would trade for just one of them.
So, what could the Dodgers offer? At this point, they have just two top-100 prospects on the MLB Pipeline list. They have catcher/first basemen Dalton Rushing(#50) and outfielder Josue De Paula(#80) on the list. For either player, I would imagine that both players would have to be included. This would be a nice start for the White Sox, as both are very talented.
If the White Sox were able to get a package revolving around those two for Robert or Crochet, I would imagine Getz pulls the trigger, as De Paula is a player on the rise and could be a top-50 prospect sooner rather than later.
However, I’m not sure how willing the Dodgers would be to part with both of them, so they could look to trade some of their players outside the top-100. They may be inclined to trade one of the two and then add a few more from the top-10. Whether the White Sox would accept that remains to be seen, as it likely depends on the quantity and quality of the players.
Nick Frasso, their third ranked prospect was on a lot of top-100 lists last year and still is a very talented pitcher. He could be a target, but the White Sox should focus on hitting in a deal like this, but if he is in the offer, he would be a very nice pickup for the Sox, as he is just about MLB ready.
The Dodgers also have some other top pitching prospects in their top 6, as they have River Ryan, Kyle Hunt, and Jackson Ferris who are ranked #4,#5, and #6 in their system. They all would add a ton of upside to the White Sox farm system, as the Dodgers have always produced good pitching from their pipeline.
The Dodgers always seem to have a good farm system, but this is definitely one of their weaker years. They have the ammo to get a trade done for either Robert or Crochet, but it just depends on how willing they are to part with their two top prospects. I’m sure the White Sox could be convinced if it were one of the top two players and then a combination of one of the pitchers and another position player, but we should see.
If they can’t get a deal done for Crochet or Robert, they could be a team to watch for Erick Fedde, as they could package a few of the pitchers and a hitter to acquire a great pitcher from the White Sox.
