The Dodgers could go out at the deadline and land a big-name starting pitcher. Alternatively, they could do almost nothing and still end up with a pretty good starting staff.
The inevitable return of Dustin May and Andrew Heaney, both of whom are on the mend, definitely helps out with that.
But if they were going to make a move for an arm, Luis Castillo has long been on the radar for Dodgers fans.
The hard-throwing righty is under contract for one more year after 2022, and he would make an excellent addition to the current rotation.
Castillo has posted a 2.77 ERA and 166 ERA+ across his first 13 starts of the year.
Castillo is also averaging 6 innings per start, which would go a long way in this rotation.
But if the Dodgers want him they’re going to have to pay.
The Athletic did their best to put together a package for him and added in this little detail.
“To sweeten the deal a bit more, the Dodgers could include Kyle Hurt – who came from the Marlins along with reliever Alex Vesia for Dylan Floro. Hurt was just promoted to Double A, having posted a 2.21 ERA through 13 appearances at High A to start the year.”
The initial names mentioned also included pitcher Ryan Pepiot and outfielder James Outman.
Fabian Ardaya suggested that this could return Castillo as well as Tommy Pham, with the Dodger potentially looking at right-handed bats.
The feedback was that the Reds may not view Pepiot as a start long-term, which would make the deal too light for them.
But if the Dodgers had a chance to get Castillo for Outman, Pepiot, and Hurt, they would absolutely go through with that deal.
