Thoughts of the MLB news cycle going quiet during Thanksgiving week took a hit on Tuesday and then fell apart on Wednesday. Sonny Gray is a Red Sox and Dylan Cease is a Blue Jay, which isn’t ideal for the Seattle Mariners if they’re intent on trading Luis Castillo.
To be clear, we don’t know if they are. The last entry on Castillo’s dedicated feed on MLB Trade Rumors is from back in April, which could mean two things: the Mariners aren’t shopping him, or other teams simply aren’t interested.
Either is plausible. Even after re-signing Josh Naylor to a $92.5 million deal, the Mariners don’t need to move Castillo’s $24.15 million salaries for 2026 and 2027 to have room for additional moves. And given that he’s essentially a league-average pitcher — his last two seasons have yielded a 104 ERA+ and 3.9 rWAR — he’s not exactly a must-have for other clubs.
Activity by Red Sox and Blue Jays complicates the Mariners’ Luis Castillo situation
And yet, we do know that the Mariners were shopping Castillo just last winter and that the interest was there. A whole bunch of clubs were linked to him, including the Red Sox.
Talks with Boston failed to produce a trade for a number of reasons, one of which had to do with Castillo himself. He reportedly wanted the Red Sox to restructure his contract as a condition for waiving his no-trade clause, which apparently didn’t fly with them.
Yet with his no-trade clause having since expired, the Red Sox circling back on Castillo seemed plausible at the outset of the winter. But their trade for Gray likely nixes that possibility, as the notion of them making two trades for big-bucks starters — Gray will effectively cost Boston $21 million this year — whose primes are behind them isn’t realistic.
Meanwhile in Toronto, Cease is part of a Blue Jays rotation that also has Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, José Berríos and Shane Bieber. Even if it took a seven-year, $210 million deal to complete the ensemble, that’s a rock-solid starting five that doesn’t need any further additions. Which is too bad, because Castillo had at least been an on-paper fit for the reigning American League champs.
There are still prospective fits for Castillo out there, especially if teams value his track record as an innings-eater after three straight seasons with at least 175 innings. The New York Mets could use a rotation workhorse, as could the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles. All three should have money to spend, and two of them (San Francisco and Baltimore) were in on Castillo last winter.
We’ll see what happens, but it’s worth reiterating that the Mariners are basically playing with house money with Castillo. If they can move him and his remaining money, it would open the door for another big contract to pair with Naylor’s. If they can’t, then they’ll retain a workhorse in a rotation that could be the AL’s best next year.
