Examining a potential trade package between the Reds and Blue Jays for Luis Castillo

The Toronto Blue Jays received bad news this week. Hyun Jin Ryu will undergo elbow surgery a miss the entirety of the 2022 season. This is certainly a devastating blow to the Blue Jays World Series hopes.

But if you think Toronto is going to sit on their hands as the trade deadline approaches, you're fooling yourself. The Blue Jays will likely be looking to replace Ryu from the outside.

The Cincinnati Reds have two starting pitchers who will draw interest, not just from the Blue Jays, but any postseason contender. Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle will be two of the biggest trade targets in the coming weeks.

Might the Blue Jays target Castillo in trade discussions? What would it take for the Reds to part ways with La Piedra? Let's examine a potential trade package between the Cincinnati Reds and Toronto Blue Jays for Luis Castillo's services.

Examining a potential trade package between the Reds and Blue Jays for Luis Castillo.

Luis Castillo has made eight starts since returning from the Injured List and had his longest outing of the year yesterday at Arizona. Castillo went seven innings, allowed three runs, and struck out six batters.

Castillo appears to be rounding into form. Over his last four starts, the right-hander owns a 2.49 ERA with 25 punch outs in 25.1 innings of work. He's made it through six innings in each one of those starts and has a 23.8% strikeout-rate.

But what would it take for the Toronto Blue Jays to land Luis Castillo? Honestly, the Blue Jays laid the groundwork for such a deal with trade for Jose Berrios last summer.

Toronto sent Top 100 prospect Austin Martin and another top prospect in Simeon Woods-Richardson to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Berrios. The Reds should look for a similar return in trade discussions for Luis Castillo.

If the Blue Jays get serious about trying to acquire another arm and look to the Reds, general manager Nick Krall should target Toronto's infield prospect Orelvis Martinez and left-handed pitcher Ricky Tiedemann.

Martinez is described by FanGraphs as having an "All-Star ceiling" if he sticks on the left side of the infield. Martinez slugged .549 last season between Low-A and High-A while accounting for 26 doubles, 28 home runs, and 87 RBIs. A Top 100 prospect is must when talking about what the Reds should expect in a return.

But that's not nearly enough for a year-plus of Castillo's services. Cincinnati should also target left-handed pitcher Ricky Tiedemann. The southpaw was selected in the third-round of last year's MLB Draft and is the No. 4-ranked prospect in the Blue Jays' farm system according to MLB Pipeline.

We're in the middle of June, and while the Cincinnati Reds have played better baseball of late, the 3-22 start torpedoed any chance of this team competing for a playoff spot in 2022. The Reds should be looking to sell in the coming weeks.