The Toronto Blue Jays were “very interested” in Cincinnati Reds starters

One of the things that the Toronto Blue Jays want to shore up when the lockout ends is their starting rotation. After all, they lost the 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray to the Seattle Mariners via free agency just before the embargo on transactions with the lockout. That’s why they signed Kevin Gausman on the free agent market, but they still could look for some more help. One team that they are eyeing to address their rotation is the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds are a team that is stuck in the middle. They went 83-79 in 2021 after they went 12-20 to end the season. They, inexplicably, traded Tucker Barnhart to Detroit for next to nothing and they literally let Wade Miley (their best player by rWAR in 2021) go to their division rival (the Chicago Cubs) for nothing as they claimed him off waivers.

So they could speed up their rebuilding process by trading some of their starters to Toronto, like Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, and Luis Castillo. And the Blue Jays definitely want at least one of them.

The Toronto Blue Jays were “very interested” in Cincinnati Reds starters Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, and Luis Castillo

According to TSN’s Scott Richmond, before the MLB lockout, the Toronto Blue Jays were “very interested” in acquiring Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle and interested in Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo as well.

Mahle was the second-best player and second-best starter for the Cincinnati Reds in 2021 by rWAR. Mahle was tied for the MLB lead with 33 starts and he went 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 180 innings. He had a 127 ERA+, a 1.233 WHIP, a 3.80 FIP, and struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings in comparison to just 3.2 walks. He had a 4.9 rWAR season.

Castillo was right on Mahle’s heels as he had a 4.8 rWAR season. He had virtually no run support, though, as he led MLB in losses with 16 despite having a 3.98 ERA (120 ERA+) in 33 starts.

Gray didn’t pitch as much (26 starts), but he was still very good as he had a 4.19 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.99 FIP and 3.3 rWAR.

The Blue Jays probably liked/like Mahle more because he has a lower salary than the other two and had the best season of the three. However, it’s still unknown whether or not a) the Reds will trade any of their starters or b) if the Blue Jays are still looking.

But considering that the Reds probably aren’t re-signing Nick Castellanos and are cutting costs with the team already, they need to trade their starters so they aren’t wasting the prime years of their pitchers and, instead, get some prospects in return.