Mariners Only Prepared To Deal One Particular Starter — If Necessary

The Seattle Mariners came into this season as one of the chic betting favorites to make it to the World Series this year. It was felt that they'd be prepared to deal from their strength in starting pitching to bolster the lineup wherever they needed it.

But it appears that they've veered from that strategy. Sort of. According to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, the M's have no intention of dealing a starter, though Jude insists that when push comes to shove, as they approach the trade deadline, and they're looking for a final piece for a World Series push, one long-time starter will be available.

“(They) have given no indication they are willing to move any of their top five starting pitchers this summer,” Jude said. Ah, but that's an interesting bit of semantics. Because he then adds this:

Come July…Luis Castillo’s name figures to resurface in trade chatter.

The truth is, the former All-Star Castillo is not amongst the Mariners' "top five starting pitchers" at this point in time. He's come out of the bullpen in two of his last three appearances, as Bryce Miller has returned from injury and has usurped Castillo in the rotation, posting a 1.71 ERA thus far through four appearances.

Those are the first two bullpen outings for Castillo after starting every other one of his 253 games in his 10-year career.

Is his trade value diminished somewhat? A 5.53 ERA and a demotion to the bullpen will do that, certainly. But with three All-Star nods under his belt, and a career 3.36 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, along with 9.5 K/9, teams will definitely pay a nice package for the veteran right-hander, with potentially two more years of control (with a vesting option in 2028).

The Mariners stumbled out of the gates, sitting dead last in the AL West Division at 8-13 on April 15th. But a recent run of nine wins in 11 games has them sitting atop the division at 34-31 going into Sunday.