Mariners looking to move on from $24 million fan favorite who is also a three-time All-Star

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I don’t know how the Seattle Mariners could look at their current roster and think they need to move on from some of their players who have been with the organization for quite some time now. 

One of those guys is Luis Castillo, who has proven throughout much of his lengthy Major League Baseball career that he can be as good as anybody when times get tough. Castillo and the Mariners are currently in first place in the AL West, sitting at 34-32 and 1.5 games in front of the second-place Texas Rangers. 

Unfortunately for the Mariners, they have to feel like they’ve missed a golden opportunity throughout the first few months of the season, as they should be much better than two games above .500.

I don’t want to say that Castillo has been part of why this team has struggled, but he’s been worse than ever, with a 5.16 ERA. I’m of the belief that he should still be trusted to figure things out, but that doesn’t sound like it will be the case with MLB.com recently naming him the most likely trade candidate on Seattle’s roster.

“Seattle’s most seasoned arm has turned things around after going three turns through a piggyback with Bryce Miller, which manifested after Miller’s return from the IL gave the club six healthy starters. The Mariners have had extreme trepidation to deal from their rotation in years past and probably will have pause again come July. 

“But if they were to move on from one, Castillo is the clearest, though he does come with a $24.15 million price tag for this year and next,” Daniel Kramer wrote.

Castillo being signed throughout the remainder of this year and next season might be a good thing for some teams, but it can also be viewed as a bad thing. Some teams might not want to take on that contract, but I’m unsure if they’d be to blame for that. At the same time, I can imagine most teams will want Castillo, even if he’s a bit expensive, because the multi-time All-Star has been a great arm throughout his career, which began in 2017.

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