Red Sox: This trade could steal Chris Sale replacement from Yankees

The Boston Red Sox can trade for this Chris Sale replacement and also stick it to the rival New York Yankees.

The Boston Red Sox’s pitching staff has been hammered with injuries heading into the All-Star break. The team took solace in the fact that ace Chris Sale was making his return from injury. Sadly for them, however,  he is already injured after his second start since being reinstated off the injury list.

In Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees, Sale was struck in the left hand by a comebacker hit by outfielder Aaron Hicks. Sale left the game, and it was determined that he suffered a fractured left picky finger.

With Sale set to be sidelined for an undetermined period of time, the Red Sox can look for his replacement on the trading block. They will likely have to do so if they plan on making the postseason. They can do so by getting one player that the Yankees are linked to, and that’s Cincinnati Reds starter Luis Castillo.

Red Sox should trade for Luis Castillo to replace injured Chris Sale

With Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas suffering a shoulder injury recently, Castillo is far and away the top starting pitcher potentially available on the trade market ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline. After years of turning down trade requests for Castillo, it appears the Reds are finally tempted to listen, pending the right offer.

In his final start ahead of the All-Star break, Castillo had the chance to audition in front of a reported interested team in the Yankees. At Yankee Stadium on July 14, Castillo struck out eight batters and surrendered one earned run on two hits in seven innings.

On the season, Castillo holds a 2.77 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP through 13 starts. In 78.0 innings, Castillo struck out 82 batters as compared to 27 walks.

Acquiring Castillo will not be easy. First off, teams like the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are all in on the right-handed pitcher. That, and Castillo has one more year of team control remaining before he hits free agency, so the Reds are going to have a high asking price in trade talks.

The Red Sox are in a competitive field for the three AL Wild Card spots. The Yankees have a substantial lead in the East division and will no doubt try to further increase their odds of winning the World Series by bringing in some of the top options available at the trade deadline (if Brian Cashman is willing to trade away some of his top prospects, that is).

Acquiring Castillo accomplishes two things for Boston — fills a glaring need in the starting rotation, and they prevent the best pitcher on the trading block from becoming a Yankee.