Dodgers should regret not making attainable offseason blockbuster pitching trade

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Monday tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in baseball (53-32). That's quite a feat considering their pitching staff is decimated from all angles as they try to recover from injuries. 

They have some work they need to do if they want to repeat as world champions, and it starts with reinforcing their rotation. While they may do that before the trade deadline, it’s clear they missed out on an obvious opportunity to do so in the offseason in the form of Garrett Crochet.

Dodgers should regret not making attainable offseason blockbuster Garrett Crochet trade

Crochet was an obvious trade candidate in the offseason as a member a Chicago White Sox team that finished 2024 with the worst record in baseball history. Crochet seemed destined to get moved at last year’s trade deadline, but it was reported that he'd refuse to pitch in the postseason unless he got a contract extension. 

The Dodgers were in on Crochet but failed to get a deal past the finish line after they didn’t include Daulton Rushing in their deal before re-engaging the White Sox in talks at the trade deadline, where they should have made every impact prospect available in talks (they didn’t). 

Chicago ended up trading Crochet to the Red Sox in exchange for prospects Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez. They were all ranked in the Red Sox’s top 30, and Teel and Montgomery were ranked in MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 100 prospects in baseball. 

That hefty cost has been worth it, as Crochet has recorded a sparkling 2.06 ERA in 17 starts this year, and just finished the month of June with a 2.10 ERA in 34 1/3 innings. 

There’s no excuse he’s not a Dodger right now. While Los Angeles has a great rotation on paper, that hasn’t really been the case so far this year. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki are all on the injured list, which has led to them relying on guys like Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin more than they’d like. Even though Clayton Kershaw has been solid since returning from the injured list and Shohei Ohtani is beginning to build up his endurance, you can never have too much (good) pitching.

Pitching injuries aren’t new to the Dodgers, so it’s not like this has been a surprise. While Crochet struggled with injuries early in his career, he threw 146 innings last year and currently leads the American League with 109 1/3 innings. 

Yes, the Dodgers have some talented prospects in Rushing, Josue De Paula and Jackson Ferris, but they hold just as much value to the team as trade chips as they do pieces for the future. 

The Dodgers have become baseball’s gold standard, but that standard seems to be correlated with the team churning through pitchers. Crochet was an easy fix to the problem, but the Dodgers didn’t take advantage. They’re dealing with the repercussions of that right now.