San Francisco Giants Reporter Proposes Wild Trade Between Seattle Mariners, Giants
There's a little over a month until Seattle Mariners pitchers and catcher report to Spring Training at the team's complex in Peoria, Ariz. And there's still vacancies on the roster that need to be filled before position players join pitchers and catchers later.
The Mariners entered the offseason looking for a starter at second and third base in addition to a partner at first base to pair with Luke Raley. So far, the team has yet to address any of those needs.
Seattle has lost out on several prominent free agents in the offseason and potential trades for fits like Triston Casas and Alec Bohm have either fallen through or haven't advanced past preliminary stages.
But at least one reporter thinks that a swap between the Mariners and San Francisco Giants makes sense.
San Francisco Chronicle senior reporter Susan Slusser wrote an article exploring the possibility of the Giants getting pitching help in the offseason. In the article, Slusser speculated about a potential trade that would send first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. to Seattle in return for starting pitcher Luis Castillo could make sense:
(Jerry) Dipoto, who loves a transaction or six, would be a fun first trade partner, particularly if (Buster) Posey and (Zack) Minasian can somehow pry Castillo away from Seattle. Castillo’s first pro team was the Giants’ 2012 Dominican Summer League squad, at 19, before San Francisco traded him to the Marlins in the Casey McGehee deal in 2014. A three-time All-Star since, Castillo is coming off a down year, Seattle has a stacked rotation beyond him and he could be owed as much as $100 million over four years if a vesting option for 2028 kicks in (based on time on the injured list). He’s set to earn $24.125 million each of the next three seasons. The Mariners need a first baseman and LaMonte Wade Jr. could be a nice fit for them.
Wade Jr. is coming off a season where he hit a career-high .260 to go with eight home runs and 34 RBIs in 117 games played.
LaMonte Wade Jr - 06/04/2021 pic.twitter.com/5QUzwyKHhu
— Random Homers (@randomhomers) May 18, 2024
Acquiring Castillo would help the Giants, who failed to re-sign Blake Snell, missed out on Corbin Burnes and could also miss out on Roki Sasaki.
A trade for Castillo would salvage San Francisco's starting pitching rotation for 2025 and he has familiarity with Giants pitcher Robbie Ray, who Seattle traded away to the Giants on Jan. 5, 2024, in return for outfielder Mitch Haniger.
Wade Jr. is a harder sell for the Mariners. He's set to earn $4.3 million in his age-31 season in 2025 before hitting free agency next year. He's an experienced player and a solid bat for the bottom half of the order. But as a left-handed hitter, he's not a natural platoon partner for Raley. His defense was also poor in 2024 (-3 outs above average according to Baseball Savant).
Seattle could play Wade Jr. in a first base/designated hitter hybrid role while slowly bringing along prospect Tyler Locklear. But the Mariners reportedly already turned down a trade that would have sent Luis Castillo to the Boston Red Sox in return for Casas and designated hitter Masastaka Yoshida.
If Seattle wasn't willing to move Castillo for two offensive upgrades at positions of need, it's hard to imagine the team moving the three-time All-Star for a player who'd essentially be a bridge for Locklear.
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