Orioles, Dodgers looking like they dodged massively expensive bullet at trade deadline

One of the biggest names that was mentioned at the trade deadline was the Chicago White Sox ace, Garrett Crochet. Crochet was a big-name target of a few top teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles.

He had dominated like an ace in his first season as a starter. But again, it was his first season as a starter so there were a few issues. Every issue revolved around the unprecedented workload that Crochet was under this season.

He had never thrown this much in a single year and as he threw more, his risk of injury would go up. There was also the risk that his arm would wear out and his performance would suffer because of it.

The main red flag for Crochet was the report that he would refuse to pitch in October unless he was given a contract extension that gave him security and stability.

Luckily for potential suitors, they avoided making a trade for one of the riskier arms on the market.

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Dodgers, Orioles dodge major bullet by avoiding Garrett Crochet at the deadline

Heading into the All-Star break, Crochet had an ERA of 3.02. As teams began searching for trades, Crochet looked dominant. He looked like the ace that he was advertised to be.

But he just hasn't dominated in the same over his last few starts. Crochet has yet to toss over four innings in a start since his June 30th start against the Rockies. Just recently, he was rocked for seven earned runs on four home runs against the Chicago Cubs to move his season ERA over 3.60.

There isn't room to be concerned about the future of Crochet as a starter, but it does look more and more like the Dodgers and Orioles dodged a bullet by not paying the price that was asked of them.

To acquire Crochet, one of these teams would have had to move multiple top 100 prospects along with other prospects in their own top 10 prospects. Besides that, they would have had to ink Crochet to a long-term extension that would have paid him for years into the future.

Many saw that losing out on Crochet at the deadline was a missed opportunity for teams like the Dodgers and the Orioles. But now it's starting to look more and more like a bullet dodged instead.