The New York Mets need a starting pitching, and the Cincinnati Reds have an abundance of them. In theory, this would make the two teams ideal trade partners.
Although the Mets have addressed many of their roster shortcomings in the offseason, the pitching mound remains an area of need for the New York team, despite the addition of Max Scherzer.
Fortunately, there’s a way they can address this deficit without shelling more money in free agency: by facilitating a trade with the Cincinnati Reds. One pitcher in particular, the Reds’ Luis Castillo, should garner the Mets’ attention.
Castillo is a high-upside pitcher that would slot in nicely behind the two-headed monster of Jacob deGrom and Scherzer in Queens, giving the Mets three quality options in their rotation. However, the cost to acquire Castillo wouldn’t be cheap.
The staff over at Blog Red Machine, which covers Reds baseball for FanSided, maintains that a minimum of one top-50 prospect would need to be included in any potential trade proposal for Castillo. One such trade proposal could include a swap for Tampa Bay Rays for second baseman/outfielder Vidal Bruján, right-hander Seth Johnson, and “another C+ minor-league pitcher.”
Evaluating a trade proposal to send the Reds’ Luis Castillo to the Mets
While Blog Red Machine proposed a potential trade with the Rays, Mets analyst Danny Abriano of SNY proposed a Reds-Mets trade that could potentially get the job done.
In this hypothetical trade, Cincinnati would be receiving New York’s No. 3 prospect (and 53rd overall) in Ronny Mauricio, as well as another Mets top 10 prospect in RHP J.T Ginn.
Mauricio is not quite a top 50 overall prospect in the game (though he’s close), so that might fall short of the Reds’ standards for a return on Castillo. Even if Mauricio isn’t enough, J.T. Ginn is a potential stud in the making, with the Mets reportedly being high on his upside as a prospect pitcher.
It makes sense for the Mets to trade Mauricio, who would be blocked by Francisco Lindor at shortstop at the big league level, and it’s safe to say that Lindor won’t be going anywhere for a while. The Reds would be able to play Mauricio at shortstop, and pairing him with reigning NL Rookie of the Year second baseman Jonathan India could make for a dynamic middle infield in Cincinnati for years to come.
Overall, this package seems a bit light for someone of Castillo’s talent level, but it’s certainly a starting point. Perhaps another prospect or big league player would get this deal across the finish line.