The Giants were among the teams that engaged the Mariners earlier in the offseason in trade talks regrading Luis Castillo, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The clubs obviously did not line up on a deal and Castillo is expected to open the year in Seattle’s rotation.
Seattle entertained offers on the veteran righty as a means to potentially adding lineup help and creating payroll space which they could reinvest in the offense. The Mariners seemingly never gave much consideration to moving any of their younger top four starters: George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo. Castillo is in a different spot, as he’s entering his age-32 season and on a significant contract. He’ll make $22.75MM annually for the next three years, while the deal also includes a vesting option for the ’28 campaign.
It’s not a bad contract. Castillo remains a very good starter. He turned in a 3.64 ERA with an above-average 24.3% strikeout percentage over 175 1/3 innings last year. It was his sixth consecutive sub-4.00 ERA showing. He has topped 150 innings in each of the last six full seasons. Castillo has had better than average strikeout rates throughout his career. His fastball still sits in the 95-96 MPH range. His salaries are expensive but in line with what comparable or slightly lesser pitchers like Nathan Eovaldi, Sean Manaea and Yusei Kikuchi landed on three-year terms as free agents.
At the same time, the Mariners were looking both to offload the money and command upper-level hitting talent in return. They seemingly stuck to a high asking price, which aligns with president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s repeated assertions that the front office was reluctant to subtract from the rotation.
Slusser writes that the Giants have unsurprisingly been unwilling to entertain including top first base prospect Bryce Eldridge in a trade. That’s not to say that the Mariners were necessarily insistent on including Eldridge in a Castillo deal, but the Giants are otherwise light on impact controllable hitting talent. The 20-year-old first baseman is the only San Francisco prospect to crack Baseball America’s Top 100 this offseason.
Tyler Fitzgerald and Heliot Ramos are coming off impressive seasons, but they’re each ticketed for everyday playing time in San Francisco. Both players have elevated strikeout rates that could have been a concern for Seattle. Marco Luciano’s prospect status has fallen thanks to defensive questions and strikeout concerns of his own. Luis Matos and Casey Schmitt probably project as depth pieces. While the Mariners presumably had varying levels of interest in some of those players, it’s understandable that the sides apparently couldn’t line up on value.
The Giants would up making a big move on the free agent front, signing Justin Verlander to a $15MM deal. The future Hall of Famer slots behind Logan Webb and alongside Robbie Ray in Bob Melvin’s staff. Jordan Hicks seems ticketed for the fourth starter role, with Kyle Harrison probably grabbing the final rotation spot. Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp, Keaton Winn and Mason Black are among the other options on the 40-man roster.