ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays were finalizing another surprising trade Thursday night, sending Diego Castillo, one of their more reliable relievers, to the Mariners for right-hander JT Chargois and infield prospect Austin Shenton.
Dealing Castillo was unexpected, as the Rays are already missing several top relievers due to injuries, with Pete Fairbanks, Ryan Thompson, J.P. Feyereisen and Collin McHugh on the injured list.
Castillo, 27, is 2-4, with a 2.72 earned-run average and 14 saves.
Chargois, 30, is 1-0, 3.00 in 30 games this season for the Mariners, walking six and striking out 29 in 30 innings. Shenton, 23, is a lefty-hitting corner infield prospect from Florida International who moved up from Class A to Double-A this season, hitting a combined .300 with 12 homers, 61 RBIs and a .980 OPS.
But with the potential for all four injured relievers to return relatively soon, and with top reliever Nick Anderson, who has been out since spring, on a rehab assignment now, the Rays apparently felt comfortable dealing Castillo, who will be headed toward a hefty raise next season as he becomes eligible for arbitration.
Or they have plans to add to their bullpen, with Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel the top available option.
Having held extensive conversations and exchanged text messages with numerous teams over multiple scenarios, the Rays headed into Friday’s trade-deadline day prepared for a variety of options and outcomes.
Whether they make a key addition, and certainly a big one, will come down as usual to who is actually available and what the acquisition costs are in terms of players and financial impact.
But another factor may be the answers to some internal questions.
The Rays are considered to be in the market to add a starting pitcher.
But is that perceived need lessened by this week’s encouraging performances by Michael Wacha and rookie Luis Patino, the seemingly promising return soon of Chris Archer, and the possibility of getting ace Tyler Glasnow back in September?
Having made two deals last week, acquiring right-handed slugger Nelson Cruz from the Twins and sending lefty starter Rich Hill to the Mets, the Rays were poised for more action.
With scouts spread out around the country, Rays general manager Erik Neander and staff planned to continue talks right up until the 4 p.m. Friday deadline while watching to see what other teams do.
Several teams they are competing with for postseason spots were active Thursday, the Yankees completing a deal with Texas to add lefty slugger Joey Gallo, the Blue Jays addressing their bullpen issues by getting lefty reliever Brad Hand from the Nationals. The A’s on Wednesday got outfielder Starling Marte from the Marlins.
Another, albeit unlikely, option for the Rays would be to make a financial-driven move and trade centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who is due $3.8 million the rest of this season with at least another $14.5 million going forward.
Kiermaier, speaking before Thursday’s 14-0 win over the Yankees, said it’s a tough time of year for many players, but he was confident the group the Rays had was good enough to win.
“A lot of crazy things are going on in the game right now with a lot of people going different places. It’s fun to watch from the outside looking in, watching where other guys go.
“But at the end of day, we’re worried about the guys that we have in our clubhouse right now. That’s a politically correct answer, but it’s the honest answer, as well. We have all the confidence in the world in our guys, and we’ll see what happens in these next coming days.”
