Brewers named as surprise fit for All-Star pitcher in potential blockbuster

The Milwaukee Brewers are one of Major League Baseball's most consistent franchises. Year after year they storm to the top of the National League Central, and it never seems to matter which names are on the backs of their jerseys.

In 2024, the Brewers are at it again. They traded their ace, Corbin Burnes, to the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. Yet their pitching staff has done enough without Burnes, and the Brewers have a five-game lead in the division in mid-July.

Yet despite all the success they have had this season, the Brewers' pitching staff is wearing thin. They have had just two starters healthy for the full season, and their bullpen is the most overworked in the entire National League.

In a season where the top of the league is less dominant than usual, the Brewers have a better chance than ever to make a deep playoff run. And according to a pair of insiders, the Brewers may be primed to pull off a surprise blockbuster.

Tim Britton and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic ranked the top 50 players with a possibility of getting traded at this season's deadline. They listed their number two player overall, Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox, as a fit for the Brewers.

"He’s emerged as one of the AL’s best left-handed pitchers and easily the best thing happening on the South Side of Chicago," the authors said of Crochet. "Naturally, that makes him a prime candidate to be moved for a team with the worst record in baseball."

Britton and Gleeman also rated Crochet's chances of being traded favorably, listing him as a green light under the traffic light system they employed.

Though Crochet has three years of team control remaining after 2024, the White Sox will need even longer to return to any semblance of playoff contention. That makes him an ideal candidate for the Brewers, as a consistent presence in their rotation for the near future.

The only issue is whether Crochet will be able to carry on starting games for the remainder of 2024.

Coming into the season, he'd exclusively been used as a reliever in the big leagues, with a career-high of 54.1 innings pitched. At 107.1 so far this season, Crochet is set to double that career mark when he starts against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

The Brewers would assuredly love to have Crochet as a starter, as the strikeout specialist has been dominating opposing hitters all season. But until July 30, we won't know where Crochet will be playing for the rest of the year, nor how that team will manage his innings.

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