Recent reports have linked the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers in a potential multi-player trade that would involve the Dodgers reducing the Reds’ payroll.
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The Dodgers have been in talks with the Reds about Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray. While most people have been focusing on Luis Castillo, I think Sonny Gray might have a bigger impact for the Dodgers.
Sonny Gray has 2 All-Star appearances and has finished in the top 10 Cy Young award voting in those same years. He is 32 years old so in the middle/later part of his prime. His career ERA of 3.61 is more important than the 4.19 ERA he had last year.
Sonny Grey has the potential to be great
Sonny Gray is not an ace by any means but he has been rather good more often than not. In 6 of his 9 seasons, he has maintained a 3.75 ERA or better. In 3 of those 6 seasons, he even managed to have an ERA under 3. The Dodgers’ pitching staff has shown that they can smooth out the rough edges of pitchers. What’s one more?
Luis Castillo is seen by many as the most interesting piece because of his age. He will be 29 when the season starts in 2022.
Luis Castillo is the young pitcher everyone is looking at
Luis Castillo has 5 seasons under his belt now with a career ERA of 3.72 which is relatively decent for such a young pitcher. He led the league in starts this season but also led the league in losses (if you care about that stat). Castillo also led the league in walks which is a bad sign for his command.
He nearly gave up a hit for every inning he pitched as well. Despite all that, Castillo still managed a mediocre 3.98 ERA. In 2019, he was selected as an All-Star and finished the season with a 3.40 ERA. In 2020, he looked poised to build on the previous year but the short season did not allow us to see if he could have maintained his 3.21 ERA throughout an entire season.
Who will the Dodgers have to give up and will it be worth it?
There is a lot of upside for both of these pitchers who are coming off of bad years. The cost isn’t too higher for either of them. Luis Castillo is set to earn $7.6 million and Sonny Gray will make $10.7 million in 2022. Relatively good value especially when compared to Andrew Heaney’s contract.
