Phillies trade idea sends Justin Crawford to Blue Jays in deal that makes no sense
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Phillies trade idea sends Justin Crawford to Blue Jays in deal that makes no sense originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Philadelphia Phillies are on the hunt for three needs this summer by the August 3 trade deadline: starting pitching, high-leverage reliever, and a right-handed hitting outfielder.
It's not going to be easy finding outfield help, though the other two needs should be realistic enough. But to land an outfielder, the Phillies might need to get creative.
A trade idea proposed by Mitch Bannon of The Athletic between the Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays would certainly be creative. It would send Justin Crawford to Toronto for two players in a deal that would make no sense for the Phillies.
Phillies trade idea with Blue Jays makes zero sense
"Jeff Hoffman and Daulton Varsho to the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Justin Crawford (MLB)," Bannon proposed.
The Phillies adding Varsho or Hoffman this summer wouldn't be the worst idea, as reuniting with Hoffman could help the bullpen out, and Varsho could be a nice outfielder as well.
But trading Crawford for the two of them would be a complete mistake. Part of why this would be terrible is the massive difference in cost and control between the two sides in this deal.
Hoffman, who is struggling with a 4.40 ERA this season with -0.4 bWAR for the Blue Jays, is under contract through 2027 on a three-year, $33 million deal. That's $11 million per-year, and quite a lot of money for a struggling reliever.
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The Phillies, already a little tight on money, would be foolish to take on all of that deal. But it only gets worse. Varsho, who is also struggling with a .678 OPS this season with 1.0 bWAR, is a rental outfielder.
Trading Crawford, who is in his rookie season and under club control well into the future on cheap deals, for a rental outfielder who's struggling and an expensive, struggling reliever would not make sense at all.
Not that it makes this trade idea that much worse, but Varsho is a left-handed hitter. The Phillies need a right-handed hitting outfielder, not someone like Varsho.
This trade idea, sending Crawford to the Blue Jays for Varsho and Hoffman, makes no sense for the Phillies. Crawford shouldn't be traded, but if he is, it should be for a lot more than this.
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