The Mariners vocally were unwilling to part with a member of their rotation, but the Boston Red Sox might have influenced the market.
Seattle arguably possesses the best rotation in MLB: Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto dismissed the idea of trading away any of those arms during MLB winter meetings.
However, the New York Yankees’ reported historic agreement with Max Fried and Boston’s blockbuster trade for Garrett Crochet might have the M’s thinking a bit. According to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Seattle took a “higher volume of calls” on Castillo after those deals were made during winter meetings.
“They’re not hanging up,” a source told MLB.com.
The Red Sox are “still exploring” a blockbuster trade of some sort with multiple reports linking Boston with Castillo. The 32-year-old is the most likely of the Mariners’ pitchers to be dealt because it might be in their best interest to hang onto pieces who still are under team control. The right-hander has three years left on his contract and has a vesting option in 2028.
That might be under consideration for the Red Sox as well as his down season in 2024. However, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow noted that adding another starter was still something Boston was looking for, and Castillo could be another pitcher to compliment the Crochet addition.
