Report: Rangers Exploring Trade With Reds for Starting Pitching

Sources: #Rangers still working to upgrade their starting rotation after the big signings of Semien and Seager. They've inquired to the #Reds about trading for one of their starting pitchers (Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, or Tyler Mahle).

If the Rangers are able to follow through on a trade, that new pitcher would join Jon Gray, who agreed to a four-year, $56 million contract on Sunday.

Mahle, 26 years old, had the best season of the three in 2021. He went 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA, striking out 210 batters and walking 64. He shared the National League lead in starts with 33. It was by far his best season as a big-league pitcher, as he had never won more than seven games in a season (2018) before last season.

Gray, 31, is coming off a 7-9 season for the Reds, where he finished with a 4.19 ERA, 155 strikeouts and 50 walks. Gray is a nine-year veteran who has won 10 or more games five different times, with the last coming in 2019 with the Reds (11-8). That year he finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting.

Castillo, 28, shared the NL lead in starts last season with 33, but went 8-16 with a 3.98 ERA, 192 strikeouts and an NL-leading 75 walks. In his five-year career, Castillo has finished above .500 just one time, coming in 2019 when he went 15-8 and made the All-Star Game.

The Rangers have been one of the most active teams in free agency so far this offseason. The Rangers agreed to terms with infielder Corey Seager on a team-record 10-year, $325 million deal. The Rangers also signed infielder Marcus Semien to a seven-year, $175 million deal, and inked outfielder Kole Calhoun to a one-year deal with a team option in 2023.

In all, the Rangers have spent more than half a billion dollars in free agency.

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