Padres reportedly showing interest in dream starting pitching trade candidate

For the last 11 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have dominated the National League West at an insane level. The Dodgers have won the NL West in 10 of the last 11 seasons. With dominance like this, it leaves a team like the San Diego Padres always playing in catch up mode.

After the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the offseason, it's left the Padres playing catch up, again.

As of this writing, the Padres are seven games back from the Dodgers in the division, but they're going to look to play catch up by being active in the trade market. One place where they could really look to upgrade is in their pitching rotation and they've been drawing connections with a dream lefty from the Windy City.

Ken Rosenthal reports the Padres in pursuit of Garrett Crochet trade

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal recently reported that the Padres were interested in trading for left handed pitcher Garrett Crochet from the White Sox.

Crochet, a reliever turned starter, has made the transition from the bullpen quite seamlessly. The southpaw has made 13 starts this year and currently holds a WHIP under 1.00 and an ERA right around 3.00. He's recording an incredible 12.0 K/9 as well.

The advanced analytics from Baseball Savant support his success as well. Crochet's Baseball Savant chart looks like that out of a pitching coach's dream. His chart is filled with elite numbers, headlined by his xERA and xBA, while every single statistic is in the top half of the league.

The Padres could definitely use this production as well. Their rotation has been riddled with injuries this year and it's left them with a few questionable pieces in their rotation.

Crochet would rank first on the Padres in strikeouts, wins (tied with Cease), ERA and K/9. He would provide a tremendous upgrade to a staff that already has a decent bit of talent. Being able to trot out Crochet, Yu Darvish, Dylan Cease and Michael King in a four game series would be a dream come true. It would compete with the Dodgers better than they are now.

As upsetting as it is for Padres fans to hear, they're stuck chasing the Dodgers. Sadly, this is going to be the case until they can consistently catch them, which they're not really doing this year. Trading for this young, left handed stud would be a huge step in the right direction for San Diego.