Orioles rumored trade package for Garrett Crochet is absolutely loaded

The 57-33 Baltimore Orioles are a team built to win right now and in the future. They're one of the best teams in MLB for a second consecutive season, and are armed with arguably the best farm system in the league. They're in an unbelievable position to put together a prolonged stretch of sustained success.

As good as the Orioles are, they're a team in need of starting pitching help both now and in the future. Right now, the Orioles are without Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells for the remainder of the 2024 campaign as they all suffered season-ending injuries. In terms of the future, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, and Cade Povich are their only current starters under team control past this season according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

"In other words, the Orioles will need to add as many as three starters before 2025."

It'd be nice for Baltimore to keep Corbin Burnes long-term, but with the right-hander entering free agency following the 2024 campaign, that's not entirely in their control. Baltimore will need to add pitching, and can look to start that at this year's deadline if they can add a controllable starter.

One of, if not the best option in that arena is Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox who is under club control through the 2026 campaign. Crochet feels destined to get dealt at this point, the only question is what will it cost? Rosenthal gave a little insight into what Baltimore might have to give up.

Orioles would have to pay very steep price to acquire Garrett Crochet

"For Garrett Crochet, the White Sox will want prospects such as [Coby] Mayo and second baseman Connor Norby, not veterans in arbitration," writes Rosenthal.

Rosenthal hints at a potential Crochet package being headlined by Baltimore's No. 3 and No. 5 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby. Those two prospects being included in the same deal would be nuts to see, and that could very well happen for an arm like Crochet.

Crochet has emerged as a legitimate ace for the White Sox. In 19 starts this season, the southpaw has a 3.08 ERA in 105.1 innings of work, striking out a league-leading 146 batters in the process. He happens to lead the league with a 2.43 FIP as well, and was just named an All-Star.

He doesn't have a long track record of ace-like production, but Crochet's ceiling is obviously enormously high. For the Orioles to get at least 2.5 guaranteed years of him, they'd have to give up a ton, and Rosenthal has them doing just that.

Mayo, MLB Pipeline's 15th-ranked prospect overall, has put together another monster season, hitting 18 home runs and posting a .933 OPS for Triple-A Norfolk. He certainly looks MLB-ready, and if he wasn't on this Orioles team he might already be up in the show.

In addition to Mayo, Rosenthal has Baltimore parting with Connor Norby, a player who already made his MLB debut this season and has hit 14 home runs with a .896 OPS in AAA. Giving up two top-five organizational prospects who are MLB-ready in the same deal (with likely more added) is a steep price to pay, and the Orioles are one of the few teams who can actually meet that asking price.

It'll be interesting to see if Mike Elias is willing to go to the ends of the earth to pull off this kind of deal, or if he'll make a smaller move. Regardless, he has the ammo to pull off a monstrous trade if he wants to even without touching Jackson Holliday.