The best trade, sometimes, is the one you don't make.
It’s an old, and somewhat trite, sports axiom – but also very applicable to the 2025 Phillies and their offseason pursuit of an emerging ace left-hander.
There’s no question the Phils struck gold – so far, at least – in acquiring former Marlins southpaw Jesús Luzardo, who struck out 10 Rockies in six innings Thursday while allowing just one run at Coors Field as he improved to 5-0 this season.
Luzardo has joined some elite company in his brief Phillies tenure:
Since ERA became official in both leagues in 1913, two MLB lefties have gone undefeated with a sub-2.00 ERA and 10.00+ K/9 over their first 10 starts of a season.
One is the @Phillies' Jesús Luzardo this year.
The other was Randy Johnson in 1995. pic.twitter.com/Bg0fxKZ9s8— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 21, 2025
Luzardo’s gem helped the Phillies tie the Dodgers for most wins in the National League (30) and stretch their NL East lead over the Mets to 1.5 games, and his historically great start to the season is only amplified by the reality that the Phillies had their eyes on someone else before shifting focus to Luzardo.
The Phillies’ trade for Luzardo on Dec. 23 came just 10 days after their initial target, White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, was dealt to the Boston Red Sox despite the Phillies’ repeated attempts to land him.
Here’s a look at how the two young, stud left-handers have fared for their new teams this season:
| Pitcher | W-L | ERA | Strikeouts | Innings |
| Jesús Luzardo | 5-0 | 1.95 | 67 | 60.0 |
| Garrett Crochet | 4-3 | 2.00 | 73 | 63.0 |
Obviously, neither the Phillies nor Red Sox are disappointed by their acquisitions, as the hurlers have almost identical ERAs, strikeouts and innings pitched.
Luzardo has enjoyed better run support or luck, as the Phillies are 8-2 in the 10 games he's started whereas the Red Sox are just 6-4 in Crochet's 10 starts, but there's more to this story for Phillies than just comparing stats. Overall, the Phillies are 30-18 while the BoSox are 25-25.
Sure, the Phillies would've benefitted from either trade scenario, but in retrospect, they paid a much lower cost to acquire a pitcher of currently equal caliber.
At one point last year, per this article from The Athletic's Matt Gelb citing unnamed sources, the Phils were willing to trade two of their top prospects – shortstop Aidan Miller and outfielder Justin Crawford – along with others to acquire Crochet before last year's trade deadline, an illustration of just how aggressive (desperate?) the Phillies were to strengthen for the postseason.
The story notes that the White Sox instead wanted flame thrower Andrew Painter, but the Phillies weren't willing to pull the trigger on their top overall prospect who's now a top-five overall MLB prospect. In another attempt to get Crochet during the winter, the Phillies were no longer willing to package both Crawford and Miller, per the story.
"Those talks never culminated in an agreement. The Phillies believed they had satisfied Chicago’s stipulation for two top-100 prospects. The White Sox, who had insisted on top pitching prospect Andrew Painter's inclusion, pushed back. There was no deal. The Phillies, who envisioned the 25-year-old Crochet as a powerful top-of-the-rotation presence for years to come, were disappointed. But they never offered Miller and Crawford together this offseason when discussing scenarios with the White Sox, according to league sources."
The White Sox ultimately landed four prospects from Boston, two in MLB Pipeline's top 100, in exchange for Crochet, who soon after agreed to a lucrative extension.
To get Luzardo from Miami, the Phillies only gave up two prospects, shortstop Starlyn Caba (fourth-rated) and outfielder Emaarion Boyd (23rd), per MLB.com.
Miller and Crawford, along with Painter, remain centerpieces of the Phils' farm system and all three are at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, making any one of them – if not all three – potential contributors to this year's team or potential trade chips if the Phillies seek to acquire some proven firepower to arm for another deep postseason run.
Meanwhile, Caba was recently placed on the 60-day injured list with a thumb sprain after slashing .200/.431/.631 in 35 at-bats for Miami's Single-A affiliate, and Boyd is slashing .252/.352/.684 in high Single-A with a homer and 15 RBIs to go along with 21 stolen bases in 30 games.
By season's end, Crochet could perhaps be outperforming Luzardo enough to separate them into tiers, but for now, the Phillies can feel pretty good about striking out twice on Crochet and hitting a home run on a pitcher who's been equally dominant.
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