Garrett Crochet’s Super High Price, A’s Reportedly Interested in Nico Hoerner

Ever since Jon Morosi’s report about the Cubs being “viable suitors” for Garrett Crochet gained traction, Chicago baseball social media has been even more of a tire fire than usual. Add in the growing momentum behind Nico Hoerner trade rumors and you’ve got a recipe for some very interesting conversations across various outlets. We’re going to get to Bruce Levine’s recent comments soon enough, but let’s first turn to the folks at CHGO.

“There’s no one I really covet from the Cubs,” Sean Anderson of CHGO White Sox told the CHGO Cubs podcast. “Jon Morosi’s just doing somebody a favor. I mean, the Cubs are not doing this. I will tell all three of you right now: The Cubs are not getting Garrett Crochet. They just spent $14.5 million on Matthew Boyd. They’re tied up, they got five starting pitchers.

“This team that struggles to spend is gonna go spend? I don’t buy it. They have Cody Bellinger they need to move, they’re moving Nico Hoerner. They have too much do, and acquiring Garrett Crochet will not be a part of that.”

I don’t even know where to start with this, so I guess I’ll just start at the begining with the idea that none of the Cubs’ eight top-100 prospects are appealing to either Anderson or the Sox. Come the hell on, that’s silly. And just because they have five starters doesn’t mean they’re done working, it means they’re only doing a deal if it represents an obvious upgrade. That’s something Sahadev Sharma noted recently about their passive-aggressive outlook on the offseason.

It’s hard to argue with the idea of the Cubs not spending big on premium talent, especially when Crochet is known to want an extension. But he’s still got two years of club control and is only expected to earn around $3 million in arbitration, so it’s not like a nine-figure commitment is a prerequisite. That said, it would be foolish to make a blockbuster intracity trade and not make a strong effort to lock up a 25-year-old potential ace for several years.

There was talk earlier in the offseason that the Cubs were coming up on another turn in the cycle that would see them handing out another big salary to a pitcher as they have previously with Jon Lester and Yu Darvish. Crochet would almost certainly eclipse both in terms of total value, though buying out a year or two of arbitration would make an extension more palatable than a free-agent contract.

While it’d still be pricier than Jed Hoyer likes to go, the value aspect surely appeals to him far more than having to drop nine figures on Max Fried while also surrendering bonus pool money and draft picks. Too many folks still believe the Cubs don’t spend money, a foolish trope that even paying luxury tax penalties can’t kill. They have been loath to spend on superstars, that much is true, but it ties back to not paying a premium for past performance.

As for what they’d have to pay in terms of prospects, well, that’s a different story. Despite seemingly giving other players away, the Sox know they can extract a painfully high price for Crochet due to the reasons mentioned above. Levine got into that a bit, though he appears to be wandering into speculative territory because there’s no way the Cubs do this.

“You’re gonna give up three of your top players in your minor league system: Shaw, Caissie, Triantos,” Levine told 670 The Score’s Mully & Haugh. “The White Sox are going to want three really good young players”

I can see the Cubs being willing to discuss Owen Caissie and James Triantos, particularly the latter, but there’s almost no conceivable deal at this point that could get them to move their No. 1 prospect. Matt Shaw has been everything they wanted and then some, wowing at every level and bursting onto the international stage during the Premier12 tournament this fall. He might even break camp as the starting second baseman, even if only temporarily. Besides, the Sox are probably going to want a pitcher in return.

Were the Cubs to acquire another lefty for the rotation, they’d likely be willing to include Jordan Wicks as part of the return or in another deal. That would still give them four southpaws, which some brain genius pointed out was a bad idea for the Angels and Shohei Ohtani. Someone who hasn’t blocked that dude might want to tell him Ohtani pitches right-handed. The thing is, Crochet might as well be a righty because he pitches to reverse splits.

While I fully agree that the Cubs landing Crochet is a longshot at best, it won’t be because they’re unwilling to spend or because they have a full rotation. Even the prospect cost might not be prohibitive. It’s more that big deals like this, especially between crosstown teams, are very difficult to pull off and dealing with other partners might end up being more attractive.

Speaking of which, Levine also brought up a new potential suitor for Hoerner. We looked at the very credible report of trade talks with the Mariners, who are said to prefer corner infielders, and now comes word that the A’s have checked in.

“I know Oakland is one of the teams that have looked at him,” Levine said. “They were interested.”

First things first, they’re not in Oakland any longer. That’s too bad because Hoerner grew up there and it would make a lot of sense for his hometown team to bring him in as a draw. The only problem is that they’ve temporarily relocated to a minor league park in Sacramento while awaiting finalized plans for a stadium in Las Vegas that’s growing more expensive by the day.

The other interesting wrinkle here is that the A’s just signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million deal that is now the richest in club history. Not only that, but the A’s will have to give up their third-highest pick in next summer’s draft because Severino rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets. For a team that routinely languishes at the bottom of the payroll pile, this is a huge expenditure.

Reports are that the A’s are targeting a payroll of around $100 million, which makes sense when you consider their need to overpay for free agents due to their unhomed status. They also need to make the roster a little sexier for their move to Vegas, and finding a way to bring established players into the fold helps that effort. Hoerner makes a ton of sense for them because he’s under control for two more years at a mere $11.67 average annual value.

Or maybe this is just a way for the Cubs to leverage a division rival to extract more from the Mariners, who themselves may have been leaking info about their own pursuits. I have felt all along that the Cubs might have to sell low on Hoerner because of the uncertainty surrounding his return from forearm surgery, but it’s become evident that they’re willing to deal him. If you want to get really wild, there’s even a report circulating that there could be a three-way trade working between the Cubs, Mariners, and White Sox.

Sounds like a pipe dream due to the number of moving pieces, but this is the time of year when we can have a little fun with everything. Unless you prefer to be miserable and be the one pissing in everyone else’s Cheerios.