Per Zack Meisel of The Athletic, the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to trade relief pitcher Anthony Castro to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for outfielder Bradley Zimmer.
Trade: The Guardians are sending outfielder Bradley Zimmer to the Blue Jays for reliever Anthony Castro.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) April 8, 2022
The trade comes just minutes after the Guardians lost to the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Opening Day.
The 29-year-old Zimmer has spent the entirety of his five-year career with the Cleveland Guardians, sporting a career .658 OPS and .225 batting average. Zimmer has shown glimpses of elite play in those five years in Cleveland, that have unfortunately been rendered meaningless by a litany of injuries that have kept him off of the field for much of the past three seasons. He batted .156 in 36 at-bats in his 15 Spring Training games this year, with 16 strikeouts.
The soon-to-be 27-year-old Castro has only tallied two years in the majors, the first coming in 2020 with one appearance for the Detroit Tigers. He was claimed off of waivers by the Blue Jays in December of 2020, appearing in 25 games in 2021 for Toronto. In those 26 games, Castro has an ERA of 5.26 with 33 strikeouts. Castro struggled in Spring Training in 2022, where he appeared in four games, giving up seven runs in 4.1 innings pitched, good for a 14.54 ERA. Castro also has one minor league option remaining on his contract.
Rumors had been swirling after the 2021 season that the Cleveland Guardians were prepared to move on from Zimmer, although initially thought of as an ancillary piece to a larger trade. Zimmer joins an already loaded Blue Jays outfield that is looking to make a deep playoff run in 2022.
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