Breaking: Reds trade Luis Castillo to Mariners for Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, and two other minor leaguers

For the second time in as many days, the Cincinnati Reds have swung a late-night deal to continue their fire sale. This time, in the move we have probably been anticipating the most, the Reds have traded Luis Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for four minor league prospects.

Castillo has been with the Reds for 6 seasons and has been an absolute joy to watch. The two-time All-Star owns a career ERA of 3.62, including a career-best 2.86 ERA in 2022. He now gets to join former teammates Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez out West as the Mariners push for their first playoff appearance since 2001.

The Reds are getting 4 minor league prospects in return, including 3 of the Mariners top 5 according to MLB Pipeline.

Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo highlight the return for the Reds. Marte is a 20 year-old shortstop and is ranked the 18th best prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. He owns a .282/.366/.473 career line in the minors and has shown he can hit for power, as he already has 19 doubles and 15 dingers on the season in high-A Everett. Arroyo, also a shortstop, was drafted in the second round by Seattle in 2021. He’s only 18 years-old, so he’s got some time in the minors before we see him in a Reds uniform, but he has already started hitting the ball well in low-A Modesto. He’s hit .316/.385/.514 with 19 doubles, 7 triples, and 13 home runs.

Levi Stoudt is a 24 year-old right handed pitcher who was drafted in 2019 out of Lehigh University. Despite being in the organization since 2019, his career didn’t start until 2021 due to Tommy John Surgery right after he signed with the Mariners and then the covid cancelled season in 2020. He’s been pitching for the double-A Arkansas Travelers this season and has a 5.28 ERA in 87.0 innings of work with 22 walks against 82 strikeouts. He is the Mariners 5th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The final player in the return, Andrew Moore, is a 22 year-old right handed reliever. Drafted in the 14th round in 2021 out of Chipola Junior College (sound familiar?), he has had a solid 2022 season. He’s thrown 32.1 innings spanning 25 appearances and owns a 1.95 ERA pitching for single-A Modesto.

We’ll have more analysis on these players in the coming days, along with anyone else the Reds trade for between now and Tuesday. Stay tuned, folks. It’s going to be a busy week.