White Sox lefty continues to be one of the most interesting names in the lead-up to the deadline. With just over 24 hours left to go, its unclear if he will be traded at all, but plenty of teams are interested. Hes already been connected to the Dodgers, Phillies and Padres to varying degrees, with Jon Heyman of The New York Post adding Atlanta to the pile today . Travis Sawchik of theScore reported last week that the Sox would prefer not to trade Crochet within the division, so the odds of him landing with another A.L. Central team would appear to be low. Crochet is fairly unprecedented as a trade candidate due to his unusual trajectory. He was quickly called up to the majors in 2020 when he was only 21 years old. The Sox kept him in a relief role the year after and he pitched fairly well, but then Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2022 and 2023 seasons. That left him in a strange spot coming into 2024. He had only thrown 73 major league innings due to the mi sed injury time and another 12 1/3 in the minors as part of his rehab a signment while coming back from surgery last year. But he collected service time while on the injured list and cro sed three years of service in 2023, qualifying for arbitration. Since he had hardly pitched, his salary only got bumped to $800K, barely above the league minimum. The Sox stretched him out as a starter here in 2024 and the results have vastly outpaced any reasonable expectations. The lefty has thrown 114 1/3 innings, already eclipsing his workload over the four previous years combined. He has allowed just 3.23 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 34.6% of batters faced. He has also limited walks to a 5.6% clip and gotten grounders on 46.8% of balls in play. Most clubs would be clinging tightly to a pitcher who suddenly Austin Strand Jersey became an ace at the age of 25 but there are also factors pushing him onto the trade block. As mentioned, he has already qualified for arbitration and has just two years of club control remaining beyond this one. The Sox are absolutely awful this year, despite Crochets contributions, with a 27-81 record that could see them finish as one of the worst clubs of all time. Given the low point the Sox are at, its fair to wonder if they can be competitive again in their window of control over Crochet. They explored an extension with him but didnt get far, so hes likely more valuable to them as a trade chip than as a player. An ace pitcher with a tiny salary and two extra years of club control should give Crochet ma sive trade appeal but there are also complications. With the limited workload that he carried into this year, its led to questions about the best way to pre s forward, with some suggesting a move to relief work down the stretch would be the best option. According to from last week, Crochet prefers to continue in a starting role, believing that would be best for his health. He would want to sign an extension with any new club before being moved to the bullpen. Relievers work fewer innings than starters overall but they have to pitch more frequently and e sentially on-call. Perhaps Crochet believes he can better prepare his body for the regular schedule of starting, whereas bullpen work could involve pitching at any time, even on back-to-back days. Its also po sible that he and his reps are simply trying to leverage the trade interest into locking in some financial security, which is understandable. For a guy that has already mi sed significant time, it would be nice to have some money in the bank before a club leans on him heavily for a World Series run. That could perhaps scare off some clubs that dont want to both send significant prospects to Chicago and also commit notable dollars to Crochet. However, reports today that the Dodgers dont view the extension as an obstacle. This situation is somewhat analogous to the circumstances from the offseason. While not exactly the same as Crochet, he had some workload concerns and was available in trade, though the Rays reportedly made an extension a condition of trade talks. In the end, the Dodgers sealed the deal, sending and to the Rays for Glasnow and and locking Glasnow up through 2028. Its understandable why they might want to go down that path again, given their pitching challenges. and both required season-ending surgeries while and are each on the injured list as well. struggled so bad that he got optioned down to the minors. The clubs current rotation is fronted by Glasnow and . Glasnow has a spotty health track record while Kershaw just returned from a lengthy absence due to shoulder surgery. They are backed up by three rookies in , and . General manager the club is looking for impact additions and Crochet would certainly qualify. They already have lined up with the Sox on one major trade today, a that also involved the Cardinals. Crochets modest salary is certainly part of the appeal for the Dodgers, as they are slated to be third-time payors of the competitive balance tax and are currently over the top tier. That means they will pay a 110% tax on any money they take on, so someone like Crochet would be more appealing than a veteran who is already making eight figures annually. The theoretical extension would increase his cost but the new deal would start in 2025 and wouldnt impact his current CBT hit. Turning to Atlanta, they have their own rotation challenges. is out for the season due to UCL surgery while , and are also on the IL at the moment. was removed from his most recent start due to forearm tightne s and is . That leaves them with a rotation nucleus consisting of and . Sale is having a great season but mi sed most of the previous four years due to injury and is now 35 years old. Morton is 40 years old and his strikeout rate has been declining for four straight years. has been filling in nicely but has ten big league starts to his name. Adding Crochet in there would obviously be appealing and Atlanta is not afraid to sign extensions, having given multi-year pacts to most of their roster. Crochets minimal salary at present is also appealing on account of their CBT status. has them at $273MM, just under the third CBT tier of $277MM. Going over that line would result in their top 2025 draft pick being bumped back ten spots, as well as an increased taxation rate. As for the report that the Sox dont want to move him within the division, thats perfectly understandable. Most clubs dont want to see their best players thriving on clubs that they play more often than others and the Sox should have plenty of suitors even while cro sing a couple of teams off the list. The Royals have a fairly strong rotation and just today, so they will probably be focused on adding offense in the days to come. The Twins and Guardians could use some rotation help but it seems they may have to shop in the non-Crochet aisle. The market also features such guys as , , and others. Teuvo Teravainen Jersey