Cincinnati Reds: 5 players to lock up with a contract extension

1. Luis Castillo, Reds starting pitcher

While many Reds fans want the team to pursue signing Trevor Bauer, I’d prefer to see Cincinnati keep one of their own. Luis Castillo is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility and will be due a hefty raise. MLB Trade Rumors predicts Castillo could expect to take home between $3M-$5.8M this offseason. It’s time to give La Piedra a contract extension.

Castillo has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League over the past two seasons. While he got off to a rocky start in 2020, Castillo righted the ship and performed incredibly well down the stretch, including the playoff loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.

Luis Castillo completed his 2020 campaign with a 4-6 record and 3.21 ERA in 12 starts. Early season struggles had fans worried. La Piedra was 0-5 in his first seven starts and had a 4.10 ERA while allowing opposing batters to hit .267. That wasn’t the version of Castillo we all knew and loved. Thankfully, he got things turned around in September.

Over the final five games of 2020, Castillo went 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA while striking out 37 batters in 32.2 innings of work. Opposing batters couldn’t even get above the Mendoza line against the right-hander during the last month of the season and Castillo performed exceedingly well against the Braves in his first postseason start. Castillo went 5.1 innings, allowing just one run while striking out seven.

Aaron Nola’s extension with the Philadelphia Phillies might be the benchmark for Luis Castillo should the Cincinnati Reds entertain the idea of extension their young ace. Nola’s four-year/$45M contract extension bought out his three arbitration years while also tacking on an additional year. A contract with an average annual value of $10M seems to be about what Castillo could expect.