The Seattle Mariners traded for Luis Castillo at the 2022 deadline with the hope he'd be the Cy Young candidate he was in the National League. Castillo showed well that year en route to a playoff appearance, which earned the righty a lucrative contract extension. But, it's been downhill since, and the M's are now trying to trade Castillo.

However, his trade value has “diminished” partially for two reasons.

Via Ken Rosenthal:

“Two-and-a-half years later, Castillo’s trade value has diminished, in part because he is not quite the pitcher he was in ‘22 and in part because he is owed $68.25 million over the next three years.”

That's a lot of money for any team to take on for a guy who was just 11-12 with a 3.64 ERA in the 2024 season. However, as Rosenthal noted, there are other problems as well. His fastball velocity has dipped nearly two MPHs since '22, going from 97 to 95.6 in '24. The Mariners starter isn't striking out as many hitters, either. Also, Castillo owns a sub-four ERA on the road since coming to Seattle while posting a 2.89 ERA at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners are looking to acquire big league talent in return for Castillo. They have a young, talented rotation with the likes of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, and George Kirby, so losing Castillo isn't exactly the end of the world. But, Seattle has to make sure the package is worth their while.

Bob Nightengale mentioned the Baltimore Orioles as a potential trade suitor for Castillo given their need for starting pitching. The O's also have a plethora of young hitters they could include in a potential package to send back to the Mariners. In fact, the two clubs have discussed a Castillo trade in recent days, per Jon Morosi.

By the sounds of it, Castillo will likely be in another uniform sooner rather than later.