Dodgers Rumors: Insider Confirms LA’s Interest in Luis Castillo & Frankie Montas

On Friday, the Dodgers announced that starter Andrew Heaney is headed back to the IL just five days after making his first start since April 17th. Heaney’s injury, coupled with ace Walker Buehler landing on the 60-day IL, further highlighted the worst-kept secret in baseball: the Dodgers need to trade for a starting pitcher.

Entering play on Saturday, the Dodgers are 19 games over .500, but will likely need at least one more starter to get through the summer and win the NL West 

Legendary baseball reporter Peter Gammons, who now writes for The Athletic, reported on Saturday that the Dodgers are indeed interested in potentially trading for Oakland’s Frankie Montas or Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo. But according to Gammons, LA is far from the only interested party.

“The Dodgers have used Mitch White and Ryan Pepiot to eat starter innings, Bobby Miller will get starts, and Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson have been phenomenal, but the club will still be in on Montas and Castillo, as will the Blue Jays, White Sox, Mets, Astros and Giants.”

This isn’t the first time that Castillo and Montas have been linked to the Dodgers. However, right after Buehler hit the IL, team president Andrew Friedman attempted to downplay the notion that LA would immediately pursue a trade for a starter. The Dodgers team president noted that the team was going to “continue to assess our internal options”.

But with Heaney’s shoulder barking again, the Dodgers probably can’t just rely on a cadre of Mitch White, Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, and Bobby Miller to cover starts on a weekly basis and expect quality results. 

Neither Montas nor Castillo will come cheaply. In addition to a presumably competitive market for either arm, Montas isn’t set to hit free agency until after the 2023 season. The A’s righty has a 3.21 ERA in 15 starts this season and a 114 ERA+.

Castillo, who also won’t become a free agent until the winter after the 2023 season, has a 3.71 ERA in nine starts this year.

Friedman is one of the best in the game when it comes to working the trade block, but the price for either 29-year-old pitcher will be steep. 

The MLB trade deadline is falls on August 2nd.

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