Death to the Piggy back

[Seattle or Bust]

I wonder if the Cubs would take on Castillo in exchange for Seiya Suzuki.

Canzone/Raley don't make sense for them as add ons in the trade as they already have a bevy of lefty outfielders. They also have Matt Shaw on the bench who can be their right handed outfielder.

Castillo and a couple of mid-tier pitching prospects + a boat of cash could maybe get it done. Always love the difference between Baseball Reference and Fangraphs pitching WAR. BR has Castillo at -0.9 WAR where Fangraphs has him at 0.8 WAR.

Cubs farm system is trash and they need to get creative adding starting pitching. Their staff has been criminally bad and injured.

[DavidGee24]

I wonder if the Cubs would take on Castillo in exchange for Seiya Suzuki.

Canzone/Raley don't make sense for them as add ons in the trade as they already have a bevy of lefty outfielders. They also have Matt Shaw on the bench who can be their right handed outfielder.

Castillo and a couple of mid-tier pitching prospects + a boat of cash could maybe get it done. Always love the difference between Baseball Reference and Fangraphs pitching WAR. BR has Castillo at -0.9 WAR where Fangraphs has him at 0.8 WAR.

Cubs farm system is trash and they need to get creative adding starting pitching. Their staff has been criminally bad and injured.

Seattle on the phone with Chicago: "We'll give you a fading Luis Castillo, his albatross of a contract and his 5.22 ERA, a couple mid-tier pitching prospects who may or may not make it to The Show, and cash considerations for Seiya Suzuki who's still in his prime and his over-.800 OPS for the fourth straight season. So what do you say abo...hello? Hello?"

[Donn Beach]

Fact is Suzuki could be available and becomes a mariner, and on the other hand it's possible Castillo is no longer on the mariners roster post trade deadline. It's not really necessary to combine the two in a fantasy trade for that to happen.

As I read it, Suzuki is not that highly valued in Chicago, they have other pieces, offense isn't their problem, they really need pitching. He's on an expiring contract. Castillo is going to have value around the league. There's teams in need of pitching.

From a couple weeks ago

It remains to be seen how the M’s will re-adjust back to a five-man rotation at that point, particularly since Castillo has looked a little more like his old self after a rough start to the season. Castillo has allowed one earned run over his last nine innings of work, though his ERA still sits at 5.53 over 55 1/3 total frames. Castillo’s 4.08 SIERA is much more palatable and his walk and strikeout rates are around league average, but the veteran right-hander has also allowed a ton of hard contact.

Most teams would be more than satisfied with this sort of production from a back-end starter, yet Seattle is in the enviable position of having too many starters for too few rotation slots

[Seattle or Bust]

I wonder if the Cubs would take on Castillo in exchange for Seiya Suzuki.

Canzone/Raley don't make sense for them as add ons in the trade as they already have a bevy of lefty outfielders. They also have Matt Shaw on the bench who can be their right handed outfielder.

Castillo and a couple of mid-tier pitching prospects + a boat of cash could maybe get it done. Always love the difference between Baseball Reference and Fangraphs pitching WAR. BR has Castillo at -0.9 WAR where Fangraphs has him at 0.8 WAR.

Cubs farm system is trash and they need to get creative adding starting pitching. Their staff has been criminally bad and injured.

Seattle on the phone with Chicago: "We'll give you a fading Luis Castillo, his albatross of a contract and his 5.22 ERA, a couple mid-tier pitching prospects who may or may not make it to The Show, and cash considerations for Seiya Suzuki who's still in his prime and his over-.800 OPS for the fourth straight season. So what do you say abo...hello? Hello?"

Per usual you ignore all context as to why the Cubs would entertain this deal.

1) Suzuki is in the final year of his contract. For a 2-month rental at age 32 making $20M, Suzuki's compensation should be very close to mirroring what Arizona got for Geno Suarez last year. Suzuki is on pace for very similar WAR production to Geno when traded. Geno went for Tyler Locklear (11), Hunter Cranton (22), and unranked Juan Burgos according to MLB pipeline. You would have laughed off this trade compensation. In fact, you did... you poo poo'd many similar trade offers that forum members proposed for Geno last year. And you also called Logan Evans "the only one who's given any real indication that he'll be a regular MLB player." Now he'll never make it to the show...





"Yeah, I agree. It's going to be painful to get Geno. Fan trades are dumb... look at SOB!!!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised this is all it took to get Geno."

2) The Cubs are desperate for starting pitching as they have 4x starters down due to injury and no farm system to trade for frontline starting pitching. They also have just one pitching prospect in the top 10 of their bottom-5 farm... McGraw and Evans would immediately become 2 of the 3 best pitching prospects. Their offense, even without Suzuki, is one of the better offenses in baseball. They have immediate, quality replacement options for Suzuki in Matt Shaw and Michael Conforto who are having quality years. Offloading a rental from their MLB roster could be the best way for them to get a starter in a year where their offense could carry them to a wild card.

3) As Donn pointed out, Castillo has value for a team in the exact position as the Cubs. In his last 4 starts he has a 3.54 ERA and his stuff has seen an uptick. His contract is only an albatross if a team were to allow him to hit 180 innings in 2027... which is easily avoidable considering he pitched 175 innings in 2024 and 180.2 innings in 2025 as a full-time starter.

I really do wish you would just quit your usual schtick of lazy retorts.

Here's what a Cubs writer recently wrote: "If the Cubs do decide to trade him in either a move to re-tool for next season, or a creative trade to acquire pitching for this season, he would be one of the top right-handed bats on the market. The Cubs, hopefully, will be in a position where they can demand a decent return, but he won't fetch any top-tier prospects. As for a return, the Cubs should not be asking for teenagers or low-level lottery ticket guys. Anything they get for Suzuki should help them in the very near term."

McGraw and Evans are near-term solutions for an organization that has next-to-no pitching in their org.

[DavidGee24]

I really do wish you would just quit your usual schtick of lazy retorts.

Locklear (who I never said wasn't good, just expressed surprise that nobody topped the Mariner offer for Suarez) was a decent prospect with a low price tag. Castillo is a fading pitcher with a huge price tag. Big difference. And Castillo's recent ERA is meaningless because he gave up a bunch of unearned runs, which, believe it or not, still count. And Michael Conforto as a replacement for Suzuki?

Took me 30 seconds to shut down what it appears took you 30 minutes to do.

[DavidGee24]

Fact is Suzuki could be available and becomes a mariner, and on the other hand it's possible Castillo is no longer on the mariners roster post trade deadline. It's not really necessary to combine the two in a fantasy trade for that to happen.

As I read it, Suzuki is not that highly valued in Chicago, they have other pieces, offense isn't their problem, they really need pitching. He's on an expiring contract. Castillo is going to have value around the league. There's teams in need of pitching.

There's a need for pitching, and a need for good pitching. That's like us pursuing Nick Castellanos because we need "hitting".

[Seattle or Bust]

I really do wish you would just quit your usual schtick of lazy retorts.

Locklear (who I never said wasn't good, just expressed surprise that nobody topped the Mariner offer for Suarez) was a decent prospect with a low price tag. Castillo is a fading pitcher with a huge price tag. Big difference. And Castillo's recent ERA is meaningless because he gave up a bunch of unearned runs (and yes, they count). And Michael Conforto as a replacement for Suzuki?

Took me 30 seconds to shut down what it appears took you 30 minutes to do.

You don't shut down shit ever. Anyone with a brain can look at the posts I clipped and come to the conclusion that you're a dishonest hack.



^^^ This is the trade you were mocking me for being pathetic fan trade... or whatever... and Darren apparently pointing out how much of a joke it was. Geno went for a WAY worse package. And like 2 weeks ago you told me that everyone here "basically had an idea of what players were going to go for Geno." Clearly not you Lurch considering what I screen shotted in the previous post.

Matt Shaw AND Conforto can hold down the fort for them in right. Shaw has a 111 OPS+, Conforto 116 OPS+.

And don't take it from me fuck face, take it from a Cubs beat writer... "The Cubs have enough outfield depth options after a Suzuki trade; Matt Shaw would take over in right. If the 25-year-old is able to tap into his raw power consistently, he could become a 30+ home run threat."

[DavidGee24]

^^^ This is the trade you were mocking me for being pathetic fan trade... or whatever... and Darren apparently pointing out how much of a joke it was. Geno went for a WAY worse package. And like 2 weeks ago you told me that everyone here "basically had an idea of what players were going to go for Geno." Clearly not you Lurch considering what I screen shotted in the previous post.

That's irrelevant as at the time Hancock was looking like a total bust. NEXT

And don't take it from me fuck face, take it from a Cubs beat writer... "The Cubs have enough outfield depth options after a Suzuki trade; Matt Shaw would take over in right. If the 25-year-old is able to tap into his raw power consistently, he could become a 30+ home run threat."

I didn't say that he couldn't be replaced, and Shaw might end up being a good player. Conforto though? He sucks. He apparently had a bit of a hot streak but has gone 1-21 since and it sounds like the beat writer, like you, is trying to convince himself more than anything. But that's not even the point, of course Suzuki can be replaced, the point is that unless the Cubs' GM is a complete idiot, he's not going to trade Suzuki for someone like Castillo.

[Donn Beach]

Fact is Suzuki could be available and becomes a mariner, and on the other hand it's possible Castillo is no longer on the mariners roster post trade deadline. It's not really necessary to combine the two in a fantasy trade for that to happen.

As I read it, Suzuki is not that highly valued in Chicago, they have other pieces, offense isn't their problem, they really need pitching. He's on an expiring contract. Castillo is going to have value around the league. There's teams in need of pitching.

There's a need for pitching, and a need for good pitching. That's like us pursuing Nick Castellanos because we need "hitting".

Please Castillo isn't Nick Castellanos. You think if the mariners released Castillo he isn't claimed pretty quickly? And the thing about him is he stays healthy. He's a innings eater, and that does have value. That's what really kept Dipoto from trading him over the off season, fear of injuries

[Donn Beach]

I'd say trading Castillo would be less outrageous than the Robbie Ray trade. A Castillo trade would be expected