Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/30/22: Luis Castillo, Joe Musgrove, and Joey Gallo

Good morning everyone and welcome to the weekend! How was that feeling, waking up and remembering that the Mariners acquired Luis Castillo? Pretty cool. We’ll probably be watching the rest of the deadline action from the sidelines, but who knows? Here’s what’s going on in baseball right now.

In Mariners news...

• Marc W at U.S.S. Mariner provided thoughts on the Castillo acquisition.
• Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs also analyzed the Castillo trade for both squads.
• Jerry Dipoto had a very classic non-committal comment with regards to what the team will do next. I’m willing to bet they’re still in the market for rental players. I remain pretty surprised they didn’t get Brandon Drury in that deal with Cincinnati; it would have been a great way to get Abraham Toro some much-needed time in Tacoma.

• A reminder to the people who are concerned about the state of the Mariners farm system...this team has a few years to rebuild that system now, and they’ve already proven they can identify and develop pretty effectively.

• For example, here’s a guy to keep an eye on with regards to the next wave of M’s prospects.

• Justin Choi at Fangraphs opined that Cal Raleigh’s emergence has been the most important development for Seattle this season.
• Mikey Ajeto wrote at Baseball Prospectus about the changes that George Kirby has made to find success in the majors.
• Jake Mailhot went over to Fangraphs to write about Matt Festa and Penn Murfee, who appear to be recreations of Paul Sewald.
• The Mariners acquired right-hander Phillips Valdez by claiming him off waivers from the Red Sox.

Around the league...

• Well, this explains why we haven’t seen a ton of movement yet to this point. Although the dam kind of broke with the Mariners deal.

• The Padres are reportedly closing in on a five-year, $100 million extension with starting pitcher Joe Musgrove.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs closed out his trade values ranking, putting Julio at #4 and mentioning that he could be argued for the #1 spot.
• There ain’t no season like speculation season! Given the number of very public indications we’ve had that Willson Contreras would be traded, I’m shocked that it hasn’t happened yet.

• Between Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, and Matt McLain, the Reds are poised to have quite the infield in a few years.

• With the MLB Draft being just a couple of weeks before the trade deadline, team executives are exhausted and hoping for change. Zach Buchanan at The Athletic has the story. ($)
• Joey Gallo has had a nightmare of a season under the brightest lights in the league. Gallo is disappointed in his performance and seems to indicate he thinks he will be leaving the Yankees soon in this piece from Lindsay Adler at The Athletic. ($)
• Steam is building towards a minor league baseball players’ union.

Anders’ picks...

• Congratulations to Team Issaquah!