Will the Twins trade All-Star utility man Willi Castro this offseason?

There are compelling arguments both for and against moving on from Castro this winter.

Sep 26, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins second base Willi Castro (50) between pitches agains the Miami Marlins at Target Field. / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Will the Twins trade Willi Castro this offseason? There are compelling arguments on both sides of the discussion regarding one of the team's more interesting decisions this winter.

Castro was a revelation for the Twins in 2023, when the former Detroit Tiger compiled 2.7 bWAR while on a one-year, $1.8 million contract. That led them to bring him back last year on another one-year deal, this one worth $3.3 million, and he had another quality season, even though it ended on a sour note for both him and the team.

In 2024, Castro made his first career All-Star team, was a Gold Glove finalist at the utility spot, and became the first player in MLB history to make at least 25 appearances at five different positions in one season. He was there for an injury-riddled team all season, leading the Twins in games played, plate appearances, hits, runs, and more. As a result, he was named the team's MVP. But Castro's OPS also fell from .750 in 2023 to .717 and his bWAR from 2.7 to 1.8, largely because he hit .216/.302/.311 from July 1 on after slashing .276/.357.452 through the season's first three months.

Castro is arbitration-eligible in 2025, and projections for his contract are around $6.2-6.8 million. That makes him a potential trade candidate for a team that likely needs to shed some salary just to be able to make any offseason additions, assuming their payroll will be around $130 million again.

The argument for trading Castro is that the Twins could likely get a decent return when "selling high" on a player whose second-half struggles at the plate might be a concern heading into next season. On paper, they have the infield and outfield depth at the major-league level to replace Castro's production in the aggregate. And moving him would create some cap space to work with.

SKOR North's Judd Zulgad, for one, thinks Castro will be on the move.

"I think they'll trade him," Zulgad said. "If they're smart. He's going to make too much next year, he's a utility player who does a lot of things, but the second half is a large-enough sample size to say that the first half is not going to be repeatable consistently. I think there's a very good chance that when he is presented with the MVP at the Diamond Awards this winter, he will either not be there or he will be there as a member of a different team. I think he's gone."

The argument against it is that Castro only needs to be worth a little over 1 WAR to provide value on a contract of $6-7 million, and he's shown over the last two seasons that he's capable of more than that. He's reliable, he's incredibly versatile, and he's a good defender, which makes him useful even if he's probably never going to be all that dangerous offensively.

The Twins are almost certainly trading at least a player or two this offseason. That could involve eating money or attaching prospects to shed the rough guaranteed contracts of Christian Vazquez and Chris Paddack, or it could involve trading a player with positive value for a nice return. Castro falls into the latter boat, and it'll be interesting to see what Derek Falvey decides to do with him.