Report: Reds 'full steam ahead' on trading Luis Castillo

It's been long believed that the Cincinnati Reds would deal starting pitcher Luis Castillo before the trade deadline. Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Report: Reds 'full steam ahead' on trading All-Star SP Luis Castillo

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 7/28/22

In addition to Frankie Montas of the Oakland Athletics, Luis Castillo has been the most popular name on the trade market among starting pitchers. The righty hurler very well could've made his final start in a Cincinnati Reds uniform on Wednesday night — a strong seven-inning, three-run effort in which he picked up his fourth win of the year.

The trade deadline is on Tuesday and ESPN's Buster Olney provided an update on Castillo's availability late Thursday morning.

There's been some speculation in the industry the Reds might choose to hang on to pitcher Luis Castillo, but talent evaluators say Thursday morning that CIN is proceeding as if it is full steam ahead in the process of trading the All-Star, widely viewed as best available starter.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 28, 2022

The Reds are last in the NL Central at 38-59 and are only ahead of the Athletics (38-63) and Washington Nationals (34-66) in the MLB standings. It's no coincidence that the A's and Nationals currently employ two of the hottest names on the market in Montas and All-Star outfielder Juan Soto, respectively.

Castillo has frequently been connected to the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, the latter of which just made the first big move in the final push ahead of the deadline in acquiring All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals. Through 14 starts, the 29-year-old two-time All-Star is 4-4 and has registered 90 strikeouts across 85 innings pitched, while posting career-best marks in ERA (2.86) and WHIP (1.07) as well.

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