The Seattle Mariners’ position on trading right-hander Luis Castillo is simple, according to sources briefed on their discussions: We’ll do it, but only if the return makes the team better.
That’s a high bar when discussing a pitcher of Castillo’s caliber, but the Mariners are not interested in simply dumping his contract with the goal of applying the savings elsewhere. Castillo’s full no-trade clause further complicates matters, enabling him to efffectively pick his next team.
Interest in Castillo increased significantly after the New York Yankees signed free-agent lefty Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract, a Mariners source said. Castillo, 32, is owed less than one third that amount – $68.25 million over the next three years.
Fried, who turns 31 on Jan. 18, is the superior pitcher, but three times better? Dylan Cease ranks first in the majors with 130 starts the past four seasons. Castillo is tied for 11th with 121. His durability and 3.56 career ERA are two reasons the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets are among the teams to at least inquire on him, according to league sources and reports.
The Mariners’ hesitancy in trading Castillo stems in part from their gap between their top five starters and their next wave. Their depth figures to improve in time, as Emerson Hancock becomes more polished, Logan Evans moves closer to the majors and other prospects begin to emerge. But at the moment, a trade of Castillo might leave them perilously thin.
Some reports have indicated that if the Mariners move Castillo, they will make a strong push for free agent Christian Walker. The Mariners, though, would face significant competition for Walker, and might not view a first baseman who will play next season at 34 as the wisest investment of their money.
A trade of Castillo to the Cubs for a package headlined by second baseman Nico Hoerner also would appear a longshot. The Cubs needed to trade a second baseman or third baseman to clear a spot for No. 1 prospect Matt Shaw, the 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft. They accomplished that goal with the inclusion of Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker deal, creating a path for Shaw at third and making it likely they will keep Hoerner.
Assessing the A’s-Rays trade
The way salaries for starting pitchers are escalating, left-hander Jeffrey Springs should prove a relative bargain. Springs, acquired Saturday by the A’s from the Tampa Bay Rays, is earning $10.5 million in each of the next two seasons. His contract also includes a $15 million club option for 2027.
Springs, 32, underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2023. According to a source, both he and the Rays informed the A’s that he could have returned last September, but his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, advised against it. In 2022, Springs’ last healthy season, he produced a 2.46 ERA in 135 1/3 innings. If he even approaches that form, he would give the A’s a solid No. 2 starter behind Luis Severino.
Jeffrey Springs projects to be the No. 2 starter for the A’s in 2025. (Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)
The A’s also received lefty reliever Jacob Lopez in the deal, while giving up right-hander Joe Boyle, first baseman Will Simpson, righty Jacob Watters and a Competitive Balance Round A pick in the 2025 draft. That pick figures to fall in the 37 to 39 range, giving the Rays four of the first 51 selections. Boyle, 25, holds the greatest potential value of the actual players the Rays received – if he learns to throw strikes.
The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Notre Dame product did it in three eye-opening starts when he made his major-league debut at the end of the 2023 season, then regressed to his old ways in ‘24, walking 40 in 47 2/3 innings and finishing with a 6.42 ERA. The Rays generally excel at fixing such pitchers, and they saw Boyle at his best on Aug. 19, when he shut them out for six innings. But the rest of their package they negotiated is a hedge against Boyle failing to hold down a spot as either a starter or reliever.
The A’s, meanwhile, still want to add a third baseman, but the industry demand at that position far exceeds the supply. Free agent Alex Bregman is probably too expensive for the A’s, and surely can find a more desirable place to play than Sacramento. Ditto for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, who has a full no-trade clause. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm is another trade candidate, but when the A’s inquired about him, the Phillies asked for All-Star reliever Mason Miller. That ended the conversation, an A’s source said.
Who wants Jack?
According to sources, free-agent righty Jack Flaherty is one fallback option for the Orioles if, as expected, they fail to re-sign Corbin Burnes. The Red Sox also can not be ruled out for Flaherty. They liked him last offseason, only to see him sign with the Detroit Tigers, a league source said.
Flaherty, 29, underperformed for the Orioles after they acquired him from the Cardinals at the 2023 deadline. Baltimore officials, however, recognized he was worn down. Flaherty already had thrown 109 2/3 innings after combining for only 154 2/3 the previous three seasons due to injuries. The Orioles were not necessarily surprised when he stumbled to a 6.75 ERA in 34 2/3 innings. But in a limited market, few better options were available.
Part of Flaherty’s appeal in free agency is that a team will not lose a draft pick for signing him; his trade from the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season made him ineligible for a qualifying offer. Like Burnes, he is a California native who might prefer to play out west. But for which club?
The San Francisco Giants are perhaps the leading possibility for Burnes, and it is not known whether they would pivot to Flaherty if that pursuit backfired. The Los Angeles Angels, in recent years under owner Arte Moreno, have been unwilling to go beyond three years for a starting pitcher.
The A’s made their big splash with Severino. The Mariners aren’t seeking to add a starter. The San Diego Padres face payroll concerns. The Dodgers? They’ve already signed free-agent lefty Blake Snell for $182 million, and still need to find an outfielder (Teoscar Hernández?) and late-inning reliever (Tanner Scott?).
The Orioles, if Burnes and Flaherty go elsewhere, could pursue a trade for Castillo or perhaps more likely, Cease. Like Burnes last offseason, Cease is entering his walk year. But the Orioles would be willing to entertain the same type of deal they made for Burnes with the Milwaukee Brewers. That trade cost them shortstop Joey Ortiz, lefty DH Hall and the 34th pick of the 2024 draft, who turned out to be University of Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke.
Why keeping Turang at second makes sense for Brewers
Much can change before Opening Day, but the Brewers seem inclined to keep Platinum Glove winner Brice Turang at second base next season rather than move him to shortstop in place of Willy Adames, who departed for the Giants as a free agent.
Brice Turang isn’t likely to move away from second base, despite the departure of Willy Adames from Milwaukee. (Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)
Athleticism at second became even more valuable when the league banned defensive shifts prior to the 2023 season. A second baseman can range to his right for a grounder and get an out with a strong throw; a shortstop cannot always do that. Turang, 25, was first in defensive runs saved at second last season, eighth in outs above average.
If Turang stays at second, the Brewers can play Ortiz at short and potentially go with a combination of the newly acquired Caleb Durbin and Oliver Dunn at third. The 5-foot-6 Durbin might not have enough arm for third, but the Brewers believe his speed, scrappiness and contact skills will fit their style of play. He set a single-season Arizona Fall League record with 29 stolen bases his fall.
Around the horn
*The consensus among a small sample of rival executives is that the Houston Astros did quite well for one year of Kyle Tucker, supplementing their major-league club with Isaac Paredes and righty Hayden Wesneski while also acquiring a top prospect, Cam Smith.
Paredes, under club control for the next three seasons, is a notorious pull hitter and perfect fit for Minute Maid Park. Wesneski, under control for five more years, is the kind of pitcher the Astros routinely maximize. And while Smith, the 14th pick in the 2024 draft, is more likely to end up at first base or right field than third, his offensive potential is immense.
“He can be a monster,” one exec said.
One other thing to consider: Fangraphs estimates that the Astros are within about $16 million of the luxury-tax threshold. If they had kept Tucker, made him a qualifying offer and gone over the threshold, all they would have received as compensation was a pick after the fourth round – the same they will get for Bregman after exceeding the threshold last season.
*As one might suspect, the budget-conscious Brewers are open to moving first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who will earn $18 million next season and also is owed a $4 million buyout on a mutual option for 2026.
The problem for the Brewers is that the first basemen on the free-agent market include not just Pete Alonso and Christian Walker, but also Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell, Carlos Santana and Justin Turner.
To move Hoskins, the Brewers might need to both add cash and attach a prospect.
*The way the catching market evolved, the Angels’ signing of Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million contract looks more reasonable than it did when the deal was announced on Nov. 12.
Kyle Higashioka, coming off a 17-homer season, got slightly more than that from the Texas Rangers – two years, $13.5 million. Carson Kelly got slightly less from the Cubs – two years, $11.5 million. But such is the catching shortage in the industry, two backups coming off less productive offensive campaigns than d’Arnaud, Danny Jansen (Tampa Bay) and Gary Sánchez (Baltimore) received significantly higher AAVs on their respective one-year, $8.5 million deals.
Age likely accounted for part of the discrepancy – d’Arnaud will play next season at 36, Higashioka 35, Sánchez at 32, Kelly and Jansen at 30.
(Top photo of Luis Castillo: Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
