3 trade candidates the Mets should avoid adding at this year's deadline

2) NY Mets trade candidate to avoid: Luis Castillo

Again, it’s nothing personal. This has little do with the old Mets infielder of the same name. This Luis Castillo is a pitcher. But trading for him in the middle of this season could feel like dropping the last out in a game at Yankee Stadium.

Luis Castillo hasn’t been the showstopper some would make him out to be. He walked a league-high 75 batters last year and has been a mostly good number three starter since debuting in 2017. If the Mets were expected to have a starter missing for the rest of the season, paying the high price for Castillo would make some sense. Because Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are expected to be back in the rotation sometime before the trade deadline, it’s an unnecessary addition to make for a high price.

Castillo’s teammate Tyler Mahle would actually make a little more sense. It’s not because he’s better. Mahle would cost less in a trade. And to solve the issue when pitchers come back—the Mets could demote.

They could do the same with Castillo but the optics of that look worse. He is a former All-Star still performing well. Last year, the Mets acquired Trevor Williams along with Javier Baez and sent the former down to the minors until they needed him. It’s not an unreasonable thing to do with any pitchers they may acquire this year, too. The timing, however, should have the Mets more focused on relievers than starters. This could always change. As of now, pass on high-priced starting pitchers.