Late Friday night, the Seattle Mariners made a move that shocked the Major League Baseball world.
While the team has made a few middling moves over the past few years, they showed they’re all-in on a playoff run in 2022. Seattle shipped minor leaguers Noelvi Marte, Levi Stoudt, Edwin Arroyo and Andrew Moore to the Cincinnati Reds for ace pitcher Luis Castillo.
The 29-year-old ace is in the midst of another stellar season and made an All-Star appearance just last week.
Reds fans are sad to see their star pitcher go, but Mariners fans are rejoicing.
“This is such a dramatic departure from the middling moves they’ve made when flirting with contention in the past. This is what you do when you’re all in. Let’s go,” one fan said.
“Should be a pretty interesting return. Mariners have done a hell of a job developing top end talent to use in trades or depth,” another fan said. “Shows the importance of player development beyond the very top prospects – you need more than a top-heavy farm system to survive trades + promotions.”
The Mariners currently sit in the second Wild Card spot in the American League. Seattle is a half game up on the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in the third Wild Card spot, and two games up on the Cleveland Guardians.