Pitching is what’s kept the Toronto Blue Jays afloat so far in 2026, while the bats have been inconsistent at best through the first two months of the campaign.
Even with that, you can never have enough pitching in MLB. Combine that with how hard the Blue Jays have been bitten by the injury bug, particularly to their starters, and you have to imagine Ross Atkins is and will continue to be shopping for another arm or two moving forward.
It’s never too early to begin dissecting potential trade deadline targets, and one recent option floated by former player Josh Donaldson is Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo.
“Luis Castillo. I think from my outsider perspective, he’s about to be the odd man out. If I’m a team, why wouldn’t you go jump on him? He’s an elite arm. He has been an elite arm. A change of scenery might be good for him at this point. They have six starters, including him. I bet you could get him pretty cheap right now. He’s a guy where, if I’m the Jays, do you take a peek and see what’s going on there?”
The 33-year-old Castillo is in the third year of the five-year, $108 million extension he signed with the Mariners back in 2022. He’s had a rough start to the 2026 season, currently sporting a 2-5 record to go along with a 5.53 ERA through 10 starts.
Things clearly haven’t gone well for Castillo in Seattle so far this year, but he’s a three-time All-Star who has proven for nearly a decade to be a consistent, durable, and reliable starter at the top or in the middle of a rotation.
As a result, if a team like the Blue Jays is willing to take on some risk, it could be the perfect time to buy low on a player who is far too talented to continue struggling like this.
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