No wonder the rumored Luis Castillo trade to the Yankees isn’t happening.
In exchange for Castillo, the Reds asked for Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres and more, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported on Monday.
The internet was abuzz over the weekend with erroneous reports of a trade involving Castillo, the Reds’ star pitcher, going to the Yankees for Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar. But Reds general manager Nick Krall strongly denied the reports, even addressing them publicly.
“[The rumors] are completely false,” Krall wrote in a text to MLB.com. “We intend to have [Castillo] as a member of our rotation for 2021.”
Landing Castillo, the 28-year-old right-hander who was an All-Star in 2019 and has posted a 3.62 ERA over the last four years, would have been a big shot in the arm to the Yankees’ rotation. But not at the cost of Torres, the 24-year-old who was an All-Star in 2018 and 2019.
Torres had a tough 2020, with his batting average (.243) and OPS (.724) down during the shortened season. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told YES Network in December that Torres didn’t report to the second spring training in “the best of shape,” believing that it took him 40 to 45 games to find his form.
While Cashman also acknowledged Torres may be better suited to play second base, Torres is expected to remain at shortstop after the Yankees agreed to re-sign DJ LeMahieu on a six-year, $90 million contract last week.
