Luis Castillo is drawing loads of attention as the trade deadline nears, and according to Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds’ focus seems to be on getting young talent for Castillo rather than using him as an avenue to cut payroll. The idea of having a rival team take on Mike Moustakas’ contract as part of a Castillo deal hasn’t come up in recent negotiations, Nightengale writes, though the Reds were open to such a concept in other talks last year. However, as Cincinnati has moved some salaries off the books in subsequent deals, payroll cuts no longer seem to be as big a priority.
Castillo isn’t the only trade chip on the roster, as the Reds put “a high asking price” on infielder Donovan Solano in recent talks with an unknown club. Solano has hit an impressive .313/.371/.450 in 89 plate appearances this season, trying to make up for lost time after a hamstring injury delayed his 2022 debut until June 22. Cincinnati inked Solano to a one-year, $4.5MM deal in March, so he would be a pure rental for any club looking to add a versatile infielder and veteran right-handed bat to the mix.
More from around the National League…
- After two months on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement, Steven Matz’s return to the Cardinals rotation was cut short by a left knee strain. Manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Matz will undergo an MRI tomorrow. The left-hander was pitching well before suffering the injury in the sixth inning, as he came up limping after stumbling while trying to field a grounder. The Cardinals have off-days on Monday and Thursday, so the team has some flexibility in maneuvering its rotation until a decision is made about Matz’s status.
- Evan Longoria looks to be headed back to the 10-day injured list, as the Giants veteran left tonight’s game due to a right hamstring strain. The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, but it will mark the third IL stint of the year for Longoria — he has been limited to 49 games due to finger surgery and a left oblique strain. Tommy La Stella and Brandon Crawford are also on San Francisco’s injured list, leaving the team shorter on infielders if Longoria indeed has to miss more time.
- The Padres have used a six-man rotation since the start of May, but manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that after one turn through a five-man rotation over the last week, the club will again use five starts for at least the next week. Nick Martinez seems to have settled into a bullpen role over the last month while pitching some high-leverage innings, while MacKenzie Gore will also continue to be used out of the pen in order to help manage his innings. Gore has a combined 73 2/3 innings in the majors and minors this season, already above the 50 1/3 frames he pitched across four different minor league levels in 2021. Of course, San Diego’s pitching plans could possibly be impacted by injuries, trades, or other developments, but this rotation depth has been a major reason for the Padres’ success this year.
If you can’t get exactly what you want for Castillo, keep him and offer him a great deal..
Least likely scenario. Most likely scenario: they get a light return as they always do.
No, it’s more likely that they’ll get a substantial return as there’s quite a few suitors involved.
They will get a decent return but the prospects won’t pan out, as is tradition
Solano has been incredibly underrated the past 3 seasons.
Agree completely. He would be someone that I see LA actually trading for this year to extend the bench.
Not really sure why SF moved on from him. His best offensive years have come in SF and he fills the clubs most often injured positions(2B and 3B). Seemed like a no brainer.
Roster crunch. They had Flores and La Stella under contract and Thairo Estrada is out of minor league options so Solano was the odd man out
Love Donnie Barrels
Giants need a real threat at the plate, a difference maker in the clutch, a player other teams fear coming to bat, someone who fouls off pitch after pitch until they get a pitch to drive the ball, not someone just hoping to draw a walk when the game’s on the line.
Slater may have done well tonight but with 2 strikes and representing the go ahead run you don’t stand there and watch strike three. Yes it was a borderline strike but Slater had to protect the plate. Just like Muncy’s 12 pitch at bat against Wood in the first inning.
Zaidi has to get player(s) who are feared by other teams and not continue dumpster diving.
Difference maker? I wonder who’s available?
Have you seen any behind-the-scenes articles about why everything seemed to work for them last year? Was it mainly Posey’s influence? I know they’ve had guys injured pretty constantly, but they’re playing so Jekyll & Hyde this year. The average sports fan hasn’t heard of any of these dudes.
Last year Giants were a good team that had a lot of things go their way. This year, they are a slightly worse team(can’t lose posey and say they got better), but a bunch of things aren’t going their way. That coupled with age showing (through many stints to the IL), they will probably end up somewhere around 86 wins.
The Giants. Currently, getting SHELLACKED this weekend in Los Angeles by LAD.
Are they even over .500?
the Padres would know a thing or two about getting “shellacked” by the Dodgers…
hilarious. cuz we’ve been wiping our @$$ with the giants this year. so yeah… keep runnin your mouth. lol.
The pitch that was called strike three, wasn’t even borderline, it was a ball. These umpires are graded after each game and this umpire should have gotten an “F”, his strike zone was all over the place. Even the robot umpires would have called that pitch a ball !!!!
I would hope a robot umpire would call it a ball, considering that’s exactly what they’re being designed to do lol
The Giants can be thankful they are done with Longoria after this season.
I wonder if Longoria announces his retirement before or after the Giants pay him the $5MM to decline his 2023 option??
Who plays 3B for the Giants in 2023??
Jacksson – Good question. That kid they drafted out of SD State last year might still be a couple years away.
Brandon Drury and Charlie Culberson both become FA after this season. They both seem to be a fit into Kapler’s style.
David Villar will be given every opportunity to work his way into the Giants plans for ’23.
Free agency is pretty bare at the hot corner this winter. It’s unlikely the Dodgers decline their options on Justin Turner and Max Muncy, so unless Nolan Arenado opts-out of his deal with the Cardinals the best available options would be re-signing Flores, or brining in Brandon Drury, Matt Duffy, or someone like that
JT’s 16 mill will be declined.
They could reach a smaller number but he’s not going to be playing at a 16 mil clip for Lad next year
I agree Cap. No way the Dodgers pay $16M for a guy who will be 38 and is only about 5-8% above league average. I doubt any of the other 3B needy teams would be that interested either, should he be a FA next season. Though no doubt he will catch on with another team, but nowhere near $16M.
Longoria is a stud, I have a ton of respect for him. Great career….
Yes Longoria has had a good career but this is 2022. If you’re not on the field and producing it’s time to move on. And now is the time for Longoria to walk away, give someone else a chance, and not continue “backing up” for a paycheck.
Why should he forfeit money offered to him and agreed to because of someone else?
I hope the Giants ownership is proud?
If the Giants are serious about going deep in the playoffs (or even making the playoffs)they need Castillo, Soto and a player like Donnie Barrels.
Letting Gausman & Solano go was setting the stage for their decline.
Seeing them play the Dodgers is like watching Alabama vs Vanderbilt in football.
100 % agree
More like Michigan vs Ohio State. Same thing that happened to Michigan (bad coaching and management) will happen to the Giants if they don’t get their act together soon
bad management? umm… the main reason that sorry @$$ team is even competitive is because of gabe kapler.
ah, so you dont watch Giants baseball
I’ve always liked Longo, and I love what he could produce for the Giants, if he were available more often. But the Giants can’t depend on him. Over this season and last, 255 games, he’s played in only 129, less than 51%. And now with this new injury it will be less than half the time he’s been on the field. Giants need a more dependable guy, especially for a corner position.
Belt, Longoria, Crawford, LaStella … time to cut bait with all four.
Crawford is signed for $16M next season. He’s going nowhere.
I am not a giants fan but i think longoria should retiré. Hé Was once à great player but To many injuries.
Was loved here in Tampa. Really their first superstar homegrown player. But hate to see him stick around for paycheck.
They need to just release him and move on. He spends more time on the DL than on the field !!
Assuming he’s not done for the rest of the season, I would like to see giants release Longoria. Then I would like to see him sign with rays for rest of season and then retire in the off-season
I’m thinking Quintana’s start for the Pirates last night put him high on the target list. Interesting line up that was behind him at times. Gamel, VanMeter, Marisnik, Newman. I’d wonder if at times they are “showcasing” these guys
Can’t see any of them being here a month from now
while MacKenzie Gore will also continue to be used out of the pen in order to help manage his innings.
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It feels like Polishuk the call on this one. The bigger issue for Gore is that he is getting absolutely hammered. In his last 6 games, he has a 10.89 ERA with a 14/18 K/W. That’s about as bad as it gets. But it even worse considering that he had a 1.50 ERA in his first 9 outings, with a 57/17 K/W.
The Padres need to figure out what went so badly wrong, and imvho, he should be back in the minors. I mean, what good is he going to do the Padres?
i would guess the greatest pitcher of my lifetime, Greg Maddux, had a bad stretch as well. guess they should’ve sent him to the minors too. LMAO.
furthermore, as long as this team thinks craig “gas can”stammen is worthy of innings, especially in high leverage situations, they sure as hell better not drop a quality pitcher like Gore back to the minors.
good grief. sorry, but what a garbage take.
Interesting thing about Greg Maddux; his worst career season was actually his first full season in the major leagues. In 1987 Maddux would go 6-14 with an ERA of 5.61, make 3 of his 4 career relief appearances and pitched the fewest innings he would ever throw in a full season (155.2). From 1988-2007 Maddux would never win fewer that 13 games in a season, wouldn’t post an ERA over 4.00 again until 2004 and wouldn’t have a losing record in a season again until 2008, his last season.
Rough stretches are going to happen and to your point its better to let Gore mature and pitch through them than hide him back in the minors
If I had it my way the Padres would send Gore down to AAA for 3 weeks or thereabouts so that he can fix whatever is wrong mechanically in an environment where results don’t matter and so the Padres can get the extra year of control locked down. Using a young starter out of the pen is a terrible idea.
Was so excited to finally see what Matz might be able to offer, now it starting to smell of bad contract. Hopefully he heals and we see him again next year