The Seattle Mariners found a way to steal Luis Castillo away from the New York Yankees, as they finalized a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for the pitcher.
The Cincinnati Reds have made it known that they were sellers entering the 2022 season. Perhaps their most valuable player was starting pitcher Luis Castillo, who became the top starting pitcher available at the Aug. 2 deadline. He was reportedly the top choice for the New York Yankees, but they were unsuccessful in landing him.
According to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, the Reds are trading Castillo to the Seattle Mariners. So what was the return?
BREAKING: The Seattle Mariners are finalizing a deal to acquire right-hander Luis Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2022
According to multiple reports, the Reds are receiving Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Levi Stroudt, and Andrew Moore. Marte is the No. 1 prospect in Seattle’s farm system, while Arroyo ranks No. 3 and Strout ranks No. 5.
Correction: Moore is RHP Andrew Moore, per @CoreyBrockMLB https://t.co/kd3QNYsvrt
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2022
Mariners steal Luis Castillo away from Yankees, pull off blockbuster trade with Reds
The Yankees were linked to Castillo, so the fact that they lost out on acquiring him to the Mariners had Twitter reacting.
Luis Castillo last pitched on Wednesday. If he stays on schedule, his Mariners debut would come on Monday…at Yankee Stadium.
— Justin Shackil (@JustinShackil) July 30, 2022
Yankee fans to Brian Cashman for not trading for Luis Castillo pic.twitter.com/01fmQBw09C
— Rob (@robertsiwiec) July 30, 2022
Thank you Seattle 🤝‼️ Yankees don’t have the pitching to beat us now! Goats🐐 🤝 #Levelup #Seausrise
— Jerry🍊 Re-sign King Tuck 👑 (@StillChamps) July 30, 2022
The Seattle Mariners taking a player away from the New York Yankees. The world is fake.
— Ryan (@BrewPackOnYT) July 30, 2022
Mariners got Castillo pic.twitter.com/csauFwNiqC
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) July 30, 2022
Mariners better than the Yankees now
— Weesh (@Weesherr) July 30, 2022
The Yankees weren’t beating the Mariners package unless you included Anthony Volpe.
— Darius Glover (@GloverDarius) July 30, 2022
The Yankees may have had Castillo as their top pitching target, but the Mariners were willing to sacrifice three of their top five prospects in the farm system. After all, Seattle had the No. 2 ranked farm system in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline entering the 2022 season.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, the Yankees were “close” on Castillo, but it was the Mariners who won out.
Through 14 starts this season, Castillo recorded a 2.86 ERA, a 1.071 WHIP, 90 strikeouts and 28 walks over 85.0 innings.
The Mariners, who held the second Wild Card spot in the American League entering Friday night, now got one of the top starting pitchers available. They had the prospects to make a move, and they did just that.
As for the Yankees, they are now focused on their new top target in Frankie Montas of the Oakland Athletics, per the New York Post‘s Jon Heyman.