The Major League Baseball Trade Deadline is a few days later than usual this year, on Aug. 2. While some teams might still be caught in the middle of determining whether they are buyers or sellers, there's no question that the Reds will be sellers and the Yankees buyers. They meet to conclude a series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, and it could be the final start in a Cincinnati uniform for starting pitcher Luis Castillo … and his next one might be in a Yankees uniform. Sport sLine offers odds on Castillo's next team if traded.
Castillo is under team control through next season and eligible for his third year of salary arbitration, which likely means he can expect a huge raise this winter from the $7.35 million he's making in 2022. The Reds traded away most of their valuable chips this offseason as they are in full-blown rebuild, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where Castillo isn't gone by Aug. 2. There likely will be some deals during next week's All-Star break.
Cincinnati may wait until the last minute to create a bidding war but then also would risk Castillo potentially getting injured before a deal can be struck. He missed the start of this season with a shoulder strain but has rounded into form with a 2.92 ERA in 12 starts. Castillo was named to the NL All-Star team for the second time in his career. If he were to dominate the Yankees tonight, Castillo's value may never be higher.
There's no question the Yankees are looking at him, and the New York Post has reported that Cincinnati wants a package starting with one of New York's two touted shortstop prospects in Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza, Volpe being the more desirable of the two. The Yankees' starting pitching has been lackluster as of late outside of Gerrit Cole. There could be a bigger urgency to land Castillo'after Luis Severino left Wednesday's start vs. the Reds with right shoulder tightness and was scheduled to have an MRI today.