The Texas Rangers were ‘strongly in the mix’ for Luis Castillo before the Cincinnati Reds dealt him to the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, per a report by The Athletic on Twitter.
The Castillo deal is official. The Mariners have given the Reds four prospects, including three of their top five — Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore.
That may have been too much for the Rangers’ liking, even as they boast one of the more impressive farm systems in the Majors, with six of their prospects ranked in MLB.com’s Top 100.
The Rangers weren’t shy about making a big move last year, as they dealt outfielder Joey Gallo to the New York Yankees for four prospects — Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver and pitcher Glenn Otto.
The deal worked out well for the Rangers, as Smith, Duran and Otto are already with the Rangers on the one-year anniversary of the deal. Gallo, meanwhile, is hitting under .200 and may be on his way out of town after the Yankees bolstered their outfield by acquiring Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals.
The Rangers have not made a trade yet, and the deadline looms on Aug. 2. The Rangers are not contenders for the American League West or the Wild Card. The Mariners are in the second Wild Card spot as of Friday night.
Castillo does represent the type of player the Rangers might acquire at the deadline. Castillo is under 30, has a history of a quality ERA (3.62) and has one controllable year left on his contract. He doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2023 season.
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