Phillies Reportedly Included Aidan Miller in Trade for Garrett Crochet, Not Andrew Painter

The Phillies pushed hard for Garrett Crochet at the trade deadline, but talks took a step back once the offseason began. Now, he’s the newest member of the Boston Red Sox:

The White Sox are receiving four of the Red Sox top 14 prospects based on @MLBPipeline‘s rankings for Garrett Crochet. pic.twitter.com/pwMttCLu5C

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 11, 2024

Information on the Phillies’ trade packages was shared on Wednesday night.

An article from Matt Gelb of The Athletic states that the Phillies were willing to send Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford to the White Sox in exchange for Crochet, but not Andrew Painter:

“Multiple major-league sources portrayed the Phillies and White Sox as near trade partners in July. At one point, sometime close to the July 30 trade deadline, the Phillies upped their offer to acquire Crochet by including Aidan Miller along with Justin Crawford and lower-level prospects, according to the sources.

Those talks never culminated in an agreement. The Phillies believed they had satisfied Chicago’s stipulation for two top-100 prospects. The White Sox, who had insisted on top pitching prospect Andrew Painter’s inclusion, pushed back. There was no deal. The Phillies, who envisioned the 25-year-old Crochet as a powerful top-of-the-rotation presence for years to come, were disappointed.

But they never offered Miller and Crawford together this offseason when discussing scenarios with the White Sox, according to league sources.” 

The package the Red Sox sent to Chicago for Garrett Crochet Wednesday afternoon was hefty. All four of those players are among the top 14 prospects in the entire Red Sox organization. Kyle Teel was the 25th-ranked prospect in all of baseball and the 3rd-ranked catcher, according to MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects. Braedan Montgomery was the 2nd ranked outfielder in the Red Sox organization.

This is the first time that we’ve heard Aidan Miller’s name brought up in trade talks. The situations are different when comparing the trade deadline to the offseason. One of the bigger reasons that talks started to diminish was the loss of a year of control over Crochet. If the Phillies traded for the lefty at the deadline, they’d have him for three postseason runs. Now, they would’ve had him under contract for just two.

What’s telling about this quote from Gelb is that the Phillies never put Miller and Crawford in the same package, which I agree with. If there are three guys to choose from that could be the future of this baseball team, it’s Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller, and Justin Crawford. It’s not smart to throw two of those three in the same package for a left-handed starter who’s never pitched a big game in his career. Not wanting to do this deal doesn’t make the Phillies prospect hoarders. We can sit here and say trade everyone all we want, but they have to think about the future simultaneously.

The Phillies value these three prospects at a very, very high level. It seems to me that teams aren’t valuing Justin Crawford as high as the Phillies themselves. But if a deal for Kyle Tucker miraculously gets done, at least one of these three will certainly be on their way to Houston.

Here’s Gelb’s full story:

Last July, the Phillies thought they had the workings for a Garrett Crochet deal when they upped their prospect package at the trade deadline. But they never budged on Andrew Painter, and Crochet slipped away to Boston. Story: https://t.co/ZYWbCtCjgr

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) December 11, 2024

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