Over the weekend, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported that the Mariners are willing to entertain Luis Castillo. Trade talks began a few days after that. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com writes that the M’s have received a high number of trade calls since then Fried Max agreed to an eight-year contract with the Yankees on Tuesday.
Castillo, 32 today, appears to be the only member of Seattle’s rotation that will be available. Baseball president Jerry Dipoto has always dismissed the idea of a trade from his young quartet of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo again Bryce Miller. It is said that the M’s rejected the Red Sox when Boston floated the draft Residences in Triston Casas is one of their youngest starters.
MLB Network’s Jon Morosi suggested yesterday that the Red Sox and Mariners remain in talks about Seattle’s starter. Boston is unlikely to give up on Casas de Castillo, however. In order to achieve that, Speier conveyed last night that the source informed him that there is no agreement that will involve the two players.
While Castillo is less attractive than Seattle’s controllable arms, he should have good trade value in his own right. He is coming off another productive season. Castillo made 30 starts and worked to a 3.64 earned run average over 175 1/3 innings. He struck out 24.3% of batters against a solid 6.5% walk percentage.
That’s a slight step back from his usual production, as he’s compiled a 3.47 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate over the past three seasons. Even if this hasn’t been his best year, Castillo looks to be part of the starting rotation. He has surpassed 150 innings in each of the past six full seasons. Castillo’s fastball sits in the 95-96 MPH range. He still has a better than average strikeout and walk profile.
The difference between Castillo and his exchange partners is his contract and age. He signed for three more seasons at $22.75MM per year. The deal contains a ’28 trade option worth $25MM if Castillo reaches 180 innings in 2027 and finishes that year healthy. There is security for the team in case he suffers a serious arm injury. If Castillo needs surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow and misses more than 130 days, there will be a conditional $5MM club option for 2028.
Leaving options aside, the contract has $68.25MM guaranteed for his age 32-34 season. That’s probably less than he would have made had he been a free agent this offseason. Castillo is more consistent than Yusei Kikuchiwho earned $63MM entering his age 34 season. He has similar numbers to him Nathan Eovaldiwho just inked a $75MM deal for 35-37 years.
One tricky thing: Castillo’s deal includes a full no-trade clause at the end of next season. Trade protection expires at the end of the year (although he would receive a $1MM assigned bonus if traded after 2025). Kramer writes that the Mariners have informed the righties that they are fielding more interest. The report does not shed light on which teams, if any, Castillo would be willing to trade.
If he can move, the Mariners should be able to release most or all of the contract while receiving legitimate compensation. A potential bat like Casas is light, but it’s reasonable to expect some kind of quick program help. And it will open up budget space for the front office to add offense through free agency. Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reported that the M’s are running around $15-20MM in cap room; Kramer suggests the same in today’s report on MLB.com. Getting closer to $40MM will open up more opportunities for Dipoto and his staff to strengthen the field.
It would be a significant hit in their rotation. Much is made of Seattle’s young start, as it should be. The top talent overshadows the general lack of depth beyond their best five. Emerson Hancock He hasn’t shown much at the MLB level despite being billed as a former sixth round pick. He has a 4.71 ERA with a 14.3% strikeout rate in 15 major league starts.
Hancock and the soft-tosing lefty Jonathan Diaz are the top depth options on the 40-man roster. The Mariners didn’t need to rely on any other pitcher in 2024. Their front five combined for all but 13 starts all season. Even if they do get their entire rotation back, it’s unlikely they’ll have that much luck from an injury standpoint. A trade for Castillo will likely require an acquisition in exchange, either through that trade or through a free agent acquisition. It should be considered how quickly the Marlins’ starting lineup has been depleted over the past two seasons as an example of the dangers of teams believing they have an abundance of rotation. No doubt that is the reason for Seattle’s unwillingness to listen to their young arms.
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