Dodgers eyeing Reds right-handers Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo?

After coming up short in this year’s playoffs, the Los Angeles Dodgers could be going back to their fundamentals: acquiring another big name.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reported this week that the Dodgers are interested in former Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray, having engaged in trade talks with the Cincinnati Reds. Fellow Reds starter Luis Castillo was also included in those discussions, Nightengale adds.

Gray, 32, finished in the top seven of Cy Young voting in 2015 and 2019. He went 7-9 last season with a 4.19 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 26 starts. Castillo, himself an All-Star in 2019, is an interesting name as well. But he struggled in 2021 and has mostly been a one-season wonder.

The Dodgers are facing rotation uncertainty with Max Scherzer and club icon Clayton Kershaw hitting free agency. Gray and Castillo each have two seasons left on their respective contracts, and the Dodgers still have not fully depleted their farm system for use in a potential trade. Of course, however, the last time that the Dodgers landed a Reds pitcher did not work out too well.