Injuries to Ryan Bliss, Victor Robles, and Jorge Polanco have required the Mariners to drastically rethink their lineup in recent weeks. Bliss’s expected four-to-five month absence after undergoing surgery on his biceps leaves a hole at second base, which Polanco won’t be able to fill for at least another week or two as he’s been limited to DH-only duties by his own injuries. Robles, meanwhile, figures to be sidelined for at least three months by a shoulder fracture, which forced Luke Raley to move from first base to right field. That leaves two spots in the club’s infield that need to be filled, and while Miles Mastrobuoni and Rowdy Tellez are holding down the fort for the time being it’s hardly a surprise that the Mariners have begun exploring the market for infield help as they look to reconstruct their offense.
The idea of the Mariners searching the market for infield help is hardly a new one. Over the offseason, Seattle reportedly engaged in trade conversations regarding players like Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, and Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas. None of those trade talks ultimately gained enough traction for Seattle to bring an infielder into the fold, however, and so they went into the season with a largely unchanged infield aside from a minor addition in Donovan Solano. The hangup in those talks appears to have been the Mariners’ hesitation to part ways with a member of their excellent starting rotation. Seattle’s on-paper starting five of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo, and Bryce Miller is in the conversation for the very best in the entire sport, but the team’s unwillingness to split up that quintet seemed to hamper trade talks this winter even as they reportedly at least listened to offers on Castillo.
If the club was reluctant to trade from its rotation this winter, they appear even more unlikely to do so now. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote this morning that one unnamed organization offered the Mariners a young infielder in exchange for Castillo in the aftermath of Seattle’s recent injury woes but was rebuffed, with Seattle indicating that Castillo is off-limits for the time being. It’s notable that the club is holding firm on its desire to keep a strong starting rotation together, even if the details about the reported trade offer are rather sparse. It’s understandable that the Mariners wouldn’t want to compromise their starting pitching depth this early in the season, even in the face of their current woes on offense, given that Kirby is currently out of commission with shoulder inflammation.
Kirby is tentatively expected to be back at some point in May, but details on his recovery process have been relatively sparse so his exact timetable for a return is unclear. Nonetheless, it stands to reason that the Mariners wouldn’t be interested in dealing from a rotation that currently features just four starting pitchers until Kirby returns unless completely overwhelmed by an offer. That’s especially true given how well Castillo has pitched so far, with a 2.12 ERA and a 3.99 FIP across his first three starts of the season.
The Yankees and Mets entered the season with a number of notable rotation injuries and could certainly benefit from a proven starter like Castillo, and injuries will surely continue to plague the rotations of contenders in the coming weeks and months. Just today, the Cubs announced that ace southpaw Justin Steele will miss the remainder of the 2025 season due to impending elbow surgery. The Red Sox, Orioles, and Padres are among the other teams that have been bitten by the injury bug in the rotation to this point in the year, though that list could obviously look very different by the time trade season kicks into full gear.
HE HAS A FULL NO TRADE FOR THIS YEAR.
There’s no state income tax in WA.
End of discussion
His no trade expires of end of this season. His last two years don’t have it. Could be why Mariners are waiting so don’t to worry about it.
I get that it’s unlikely but it would still be in their best interest to explore the possibility. The offense as constructed is a major liability and the rotation has almost no depth behind their front 5.
Hav an elite, arguably best in the majors, rotation is a nice bragging right but I think they’re flirting with disaster with the current roster construction.
If they package blew Mariners away…would have to think about it. But one more year of no trade clause.
Dankyank, in your argument for trading Castillo, I think you showed exactly why they *shouldn’t* trade Castillo: the M’s don’t have strong depth behind their starting 5. Hancock looks like a number 6 at best, Logan Evans is an unknown still, Dollard is coming off TJ, the minor league vets are not exciting, etc.
Seems unwise to weaken a strength to take the offense up a slight notch, especially when they’ve performed much better under Wilson and Edgar in the small sample size since they took over (which is actually above league average by measure of wRC+).
Exactly!
A one for one swap isn’t a requirement. Frankly, they would be better off trading for a package of prospects that includes a couple middle infielders as insurance for the guys coming through their own farm system
Seattle needs to win. They don’t need prospects.
You need MLB ready pieces/prospects if you’d even entertain a trade.
Absolutely not. Why would we wave the white flag on this season in a very winnable division? Trading Castillo for prospects makes the big league club much worse. And developing hitting prospects has not been this FO’s forte anyway. It needs to be an established, legit bat to even consider it.
Yes! They need offense, badly.
Yeah, and we need to do it without weakening our only position of absolute strength. Trading big league player for big league player is rarely a win-win and prospects don’t help the Mariners win now.
They should accept a huge offer and send them the other Luis Castillo.
John Stanton: Good bats for free please?
Lol, “you asked for Luis Castillo… “
Yes, the ‘old switcheroo’!
The other Luis Castillo will go on to win 4 Cy Youngs while we watch and miss the playoffs again.
Yeah but what about the *other* Luis Castillo?
Headline makes me imagine the Mariner FO holding their ears and yelling, “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!” when approached about Castillo.
Mac – I pictured this instead:
youtu.be/9y4Z0iGHjys?si=bTfFL86R7qk27lNQ
Executives should be fired for handing out no trade clauses. If your ownership isn’t going to approve a top five payroll, you can’t can’t afford to offer no trade protection in a contract. It’s that simple. Every team except the wealthiest few needs payroll flexibility to succeed.
They handed out the 3 year NTC protection in exchange for an extension significantly below the market rate. Once the offseason hits, they’ll have him on a team-friendly deal AND potentially be able to move him.
Hard-line rules like this with anything in contracts are silly IMO. It’s all a give-and-take.
This has been a great extension for the M’s. Should they not have done it if it required a partial NTC?
I guess that depends on how much you like the Mariner’s line-up. They didn’t have enough money this offseason to sign the players they needed to improve their offense.
Trading Castillo was their best option for freeing up money to use for a bat. Their other high salaried vets (Haniger, Garver) were untradeable for performance reasons.
I can’t say for sure that the NTC prevented them from moving Castillo, but it definitely would have been an obstacle if they had wanted to go that route.
The lineup includes:
2 guys who likely get MVP votes: Julio, Cal.
2 guys looking like their normal All Star Form: Arozarena, Polanco (at least hitting).
An SS playing gold glove defense.
An above average RF in Raley.
And Williamson is 1 of 3-5 guys who’ll debut this year.
The bats have deflated stats based on where they play, but thats the same reason a team would be foolish to trade for Castillo and expect the same numbers.
I think your projections are wildly optimistic, but I hope you’re right. I have nothing against the Mariners, I wish them the best. I just don’t like no trade clauses. I think they do most teams more harm than good.
I completely disagree with you, Don, because sometimes that’s something you can offer a player to save yourself some money on a contract. If you’re not a high payroll club, and you can maybe save 5m a year for agreeing not to trade a guy for 5 years, it makes total sense to offer a NTC.
The Mariners aren’t as poor as they’d have people believe, anyway. Instead of firing FO people for handing out OTCs, the conversation should really be about ridding the game of bad ownership groups.
How are you going to rid the game of bad ownership?
I understand fans being frustrated with owners who won’t spend as much as fans believe they should. But that is reality. Owners get to do whatever they want. That is all I’m saying about NTC’s. In a perfect world it would make sense for teams to use them for a variety of reasons. But this is the real world. Budgets are hard, immovable objects. Payroll flexibility is more important than the money saved.
“I understand fans being frustrated with owners who won’t spend as much as fans believe they should.” — The Mariners had a revenue stream of 379m dollars last season, and a payroll of 145m. It’s not just a “belief” they didn’t spend as much as they should on payroll, they didn’t. And if an owner is going to pocket money from a franchise, they should stop begging for public funds when they want new stadiums.
As for the NTCs, I still disagree with you. If I have 145m to spend, and I can squeeze another player in making 15-20m by giving out 2 or 3 NTCs, it’s the smarter play. The more good players you have, obviously the more it helps you win.
I don’t know how we rid the game of bad ownership. I wish I did though because there are about 10 groups that need to go.
Bob Nightengale really needs to find a day job.
Hey that’s Mr. “Bobby” Nightengale to you, buddy.
They aren’t likely listening to offers on any of their starting pitchers.
Which is absolutely moronic. 1 of their starters could plug 2-3 of their holes. I’d be absolutely furious if I was an M’s fan.
As a M’s fan since 1982, “just say NO to trading any of their stud SP’s”.
Why is everyone calling and asking, because they wish they had the depth and talent seattle does. Know when to hold ’em.
Depth? The rotation has nothing beyond the first 5 pitchers. Mariners have zero depth on any part of the roster.
They’re already short and struggling in that fifth spot.
It’s not the time to move a starter. This offseason might make more sense if some of the pitching prospects are ripe.
Nope! Nothing drives traffic to MLBTR quite like a discussion based on hypothetical trades. Want to keep that traffic there? Mix in a frustrated Seattle fan base, drop in a mention of pitching injuries to ball clubs with a large fan base and 💥 here come all the Fantasy Managers – those boys at MLBTR are rubbing their hands!
Please man if the Red Sox get desperate and put in a casas or abreu in a deal please say goodbye to la piedra
Also hypothetically… if Boston offered Roman Anthony for Logan Gilbert… would it be a fair trade?
Logan is a proven very possible future cycle young winner. Also there is very good chance of long-term conract soon.Anthony looks good but still only proven minor leagues. Would have to be lot more than a 1 for 1 and also Mariners do not need another 4A player.
“If Boston offered Roman Anthony”..I’ve heard Boston’s farm system is stacked, but why would Seattle trade a proven, established young top of rotation pitcher for a “top prospect?” I only say top prospect because I’ve never heard of Roman Anthony in the first place.
Admittedly, I only catch the Rsox maybe once or twice a week, but from Seattle’s perspective this trade proposal sounds nuts. I imagine It would take a Jackson Merrill type talent+ to even get a return call from Seattle on either Gilbert or Kirby.
Logan Gilbert is only under contract for 2 more years and will be getting prob 10-11 million next year and around 15 million the year after. For a budget conscious team like Seattle that needs hitting it wouldn’t be the worst trade in the world. You’d get the #1 prospect Anthony for 6 1/2 years and for peanuts the first few years if he works out. It’s a risk but it’s not as bad as everyone’s making it out to be.
@mlb fan
Exactly! About Merrill
@ sad fan
Gilbert for 3x that. That’s what he’s worth
What about the Astros losing Arrighetti?
Better make one big package for Mariners to trade with in division. And would Castillo ok it.
Agreed – it’s not happening for players at that level.
This isn’t exactly Monteto and Graveman for Toro and Smith.
Castillo’s salary is a no go for Houston. End of conversation.
We have 4 healthy starters rn WITH Luis. Even when Kirby returns, there’s no depth. Trading any of The Five doesn’t actually make the Mariners better if they get replaced by Hancock or fake Luis. Also, the offense isn’t as terrible as everybody thinks because of Safeco.
If the M’s want to improve their average-ish lineup, they’ll need to wait until after Memorial Day when some straggler teams are ready to trade veterans for prospects.
Logan Evans has potential to be the next young gun… but trading Castillo right now during the season is too risky
I would rather see us trade him during the deadline whether we are still in contention or not (for mlb hitting or prospect hitting)
We have hitting prospects to trade. That is the preference. That helps the big league club.
I think fake Luis Castillo is going to be pretty decent.
As far as the M’s roster needs, they should really call the Cardinals. St. Louis would have no interest in Castillo, they would have plenty of interest in Seattle’s collection of prospects. The Cardinals have Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, Luken Baker, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin, and Caesar Prieto with no path to regular playing time. All of them are cost controlled and offer more upside than the guys Seattle’s running out there now.
I’m sure Mo would be VERY reluctant to trade any of them because he is terrified of yet another former Cardinal blooming with another organization. But maybe Dipoto could make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Is Mo allowed to make moves that impact the future? Being a lame duck might mean he doesn’t do a whole lot of splashy moves going forward.
I don’t actually know the answer to that question, but surely someone is in position to make decisions.
Spending an entire season in a state of self imposed paralysis is only slightly better than letting Mo make bad decisions. Hopefully they have a better plan in place.
I doubt the cards would trade the really young guys, they are more focused on shipping Arenado and Gray and even Contreras
But they can’t trade Arenado, Gray, or Contreras. There is no point in focusing on them no matter how bad the Cardinal front office wants to move them. No amount of blowing out birthday candles is going to change that.
And because they’re stuck with the old guys, the young guys have no place to play. The best course of action would be to trade them for even younger guys who would be coming up once the old guys’ contracts are expiring.
Or you just let let the current group of young guys wilt on the vine until they have no value and sit around ringing your hands about the whole unfortunate situation.
Arenado fills a need, but he has an NTC with a strong Cali/Acela preference. They would need to make Arenado an offer he couldn’t refuse.
But threatening him may not bring out his best once he’s here.
Seattle wouldn’t come out ahead by getting impatient with their youngsters for the Cardinals blocked players. The M’s prospects have higher ceilings, but the down side is they have to wait for them to finish developing. Bet on the higher ceiling because it’s not as if they’re going to win this year with the Cardinals blocked players.
Hey Don Osbourne, I think your Donovan would look pretty good at 2nd base for the Mariners. I would even consider sending one of our top prospects and one other piece for him. Cardinals can easily cover for Donovan with all those infielders ya’all have.
I’m not opposed if the price is right. I love Donovan, but we’re kind of at a point where we either trade him or extend him. Wetherholt is the future at 2B, and you’re right we have enough depth to cover.
Our front office will be VERY reluctant to make that trade though because Donovan is extremely popular with the fanbase and the front office isn’t. Attendance is already way down.
With George Kirby injured Luis Castillo adds stability to the rotation. Anyone would be laughed off unless they offered up a Aaron Judge or Juan Soto.
I’m guessing Bloom has most of the input on the roster right now
“Currently”
I am also not listening to offers on Luis Castillo in case anyone is wondering
@choof
Why? Due to AI?
@OY,
Please already, it’s A1.
I’m only listening on offers for Rowdy Tellez…phone ringing off the hook
@Hawktattoo
Guy’s a first ballot Hall of Fame.
I agree we shouldn’t trade him.
I’ll give you a Philly cheesesteak and a half smoked cigarette
It’s a deal.
Let’s see, Bob Nightengale wrote it so Castillo is on the trading block, and they are just trying to find a team he will accept a trade to.
Nightengale makes Jon Heyman look like a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist in terms of his lack of accuracy in his articles.
Does it really matter, we need 5 hitters more than one pitcher!
Remember when this guy was traded for Casey McGehee?
Looking at preseason rumored returns, Tristan Casas is hitting .185 and Alex Bohm is hitting .150. Nico is hitting a powerless .283, while not bad, it’s not worthy of losing both the leadership and the arm of Castillo. A Hoerner /Caissie for a Castillo/ Ford would be worthy of consideration.
The Mariners should look into a trade with the Pirates for Oneil Cruz.
The young man is not happy playing CF, and arguably it’s affecting his hitting. He might be the only person associated with MLB that believes he can play SS at that level for a winning team.
Nevertheless, he can hit the ball real real hard (when he hits it). Can throw the ball really really fast. And can run really really fast. All of which his statcast numbers confirm (and everytone knows that analytics and statcast mean everything). All he’s missing is a team that will cater to him and treat him like the superstar he thinks he is. He’s under team control at a reasonable salary (currently a measly $785k) for another 3-plus years, and is just the sort of player Jerry Dipoto loves. Once he’s happy and starts hitting he’ll be the big bat the Mariners are missing……or my name isn’t Shohei Ohtani.
We already have a player who thinks he’s a superstar. No thanks. We need ours to hit consistently, not be an extreme streak player.
Which one?
If Mariners were smart they would be very smart to call the Brewers on Ernesto Martinez Jr ( firstbaseman) and Justin Yeager ( RP ) and then Cam Devaney ( thirdbaseman ). They would be in a lot better position, otherwise call Brandon Belt or Rizzo.
Regarding Seattle’s “current woes on offense,” in the first 15 game through Saturday’s contests, the Mariners had posted an OPS+ of 105 and an ERA+ of 99.
T-Mobile Park enhances the traditional stats of pitchers and suppresses the traditional stats of hitters.
“Seattle reportedly engaged in trade conversations regarding players like Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, and Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas.”
– Good call. None of those players are worth trading top pitching talent for. With that said, despite all the calls for more offense, so far, they’ve posted a wRC+ of 104, which is slightly above league average. Their biggest problem right now is defense and when you struggle to score runs or are league average, giving up even more runs on errors and poor defense is what’s holding this team back right now.
Second sentence, third paragraph. The lede.
How to say it, Rowdy, but I think your career might be wrapping up soon. 86 OPS+ over 805 PA from 2023-2025 ain’t gonna cut it for a 1B/DH
Mariners like their rotation more than anybody else. There will be no trade.
Regardless of all the breathless hot takes about the M’s offense, some (but not all) of which are true, the M’s were never moving Castillo, not in the offseason and definitely not now. With Kirby down their 5th spot in the rotation is a hot mess, and they aren’t going to create another pothole in their rotation. Some unnamed team offering an unnamed ‘young outfielder’ may be interesting for people like Bob to report, since he has column inches to fill and a Twitter quota, but there is ZERO chance M’s would move Castillo in season, particularly, for anything other than legit MLB bats that could help immediately, and no contender is going to have those available. None of Castillo, Kirby, Miller, Woo or Gilbert are getting traded during the 2025 season. Period.
He’s looked much better this season than he did last year. I’d let him continue to pitch and hope that he’s lights out and that the price goes up and then maybe they can get an actual impact bat at the deadline for him. There is bound to be multiple teams that will be searching for pitching at the deadline and will be willing to part with offense for it.
Are you kidding!? He hasn’t looked better this year
They should trade Castillo for offense. But it has to be someone who is plug-and-play on offense. The way the offense is, the M’s aren’t going to win. If the M’s can trade him for a live bat, it’s a good deal