Padres insider bullish on team’s chances of closing blockbuster trade at deadline

Will the San Diego Padres be able to pull off the biggest trade deadline blockbuster once again? Dennis Lin of The Athletic sure thinks so.

The Padres' insider predicts that San Diego will be able to land the big fish that AJ Preller has coveted for the past few months — Garrett Crochet. However, Lin also believes that acquiring Crochet will cost the Padres big-time.

If the Friars really want to upgrade their rotation by adding the Chicago White Sox ace, it's likely going to cost them top shortstop prospect Leodalis De Vries. While some Pads fans won't like hearing that, it's the price of doing business at the MLB trade deadline.

Padres insider believes San Diego will get deal done for White Sox starter Garrett Crochet

There's no denying that upgrading the rotation at the trade deadline should be priority No. 1 for Preller and Co. The Padres have lost two of their top starters (Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish), and while Dylan Cease and Michael King have pitched well, San Diego needs another hurler to push the team into the playoff picture.

Lin notes that the Padres are likely to face a tough bidding war, with teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles looking for a top-of-the-rotation starter as well. Thus, the inclusion of a prospect like De Vries in order to seal the deal seems all but a given.

Heading into play on Wednesday, the Padres are a half-game back of the final Wild Card spot, and the three teams in front of them (St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets) are likely to be buyers as well.

The White Sox know what they have in Crochet, and are sure to get a haul for the All-Star lefty at the deadline. While questions remain about Crochet's ability to pitch late into the season, Preller seems undeterred in his pursuit of the Chicago southpaw ahead of the July 30 deadline.

If Lin's prediction is correct, the Padres will have stacked rotation heading into the final two months of the 2024 season, but their farm system will suddenly look awfully thin.

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