MLB NEWS: According to an MLB Insider report this morning, the outstanding starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners has officially signed a $172.8 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals

We are approaching the two-year mark of the blockbuster trade between the Mariners and Reds that sent All-Star Luis Castillo to Seattle to be the ace of their already promising rotation and ultimately help end the 21-year playoff drought.

The Mariners sent back top prospects Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo to headline the deal, along with pitching prospects Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore.

Castillo has been as advertised for the Mariners. He has made every start, finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting in 2023, racked up his third All-Star Game nod, and threw just shy of 200 innings a season ago. These are just a few of the reasons that the Mariners inked Castillo to the five-year, $108 million extension just a few weeks after acquiring him in 2022.

But how does the trade look as a whole right now? With Marte just returning from his 80-game suspension due to PED use, let’s break it down.

Noelvi Marte

The headline of the return for Castillo, Marte has already had tumultuous points in Cincinnati. Striking out less than 20% of the time and walking over 10% of the time while steering his way through the Reds farm system was certainly a positive, in addition to the 120 WRC+ he posted in 35 big league games for the Reds during 2023.

But getting suspended for PED’s this past March certainly sent him a few steps backwards. Marte just returned from his suspension this week and is still only 22 years old with the potential to be a star third baseman with 30 home run power. But he will have to get himself back on the right track after missing nearly half a season’s worth of at-bats.

Marte played just shy of 90 games above A-ball before getting the call to the big leagues at age 21. And it is still undetermined what his long-term position will be as he has never been a plus defender (likely third base or left field). But if continues to swing the bat and finds a few more consistent Barrels, the Reds will have themselves a true middle-of-the-order threat.

Edwin Arroyo

Arroyo has certainly lost significant prospect status since the time of the trade. When he was dealt to Cincinnati, some believed he had become the best prospect in the Mariners system.

Fast forward to now and he is off nearly all Top 100 lists, hit just .249 with a .749 OPS in High-A in 2023 and will not play a game this season due to a torn labrum in his shoulder.

A switch-hitter with power paired with the true ability to play shortstop, Arroyo has all of the tools of a big league star. He displayed that in Low-A Modesto when he produced a .900 OPS with 13 bombs in 87 games. But as a result of a disappointing 2023 and an injured 2024, Arroyo is still a ways off from the big leagues and may not reach his ceiling as a player at this rate. 2025 will be very telling.

Levi Stoudt

Entering 2022, Stoudt had started to gain some real juice as a prospect, even if his ceiling wasn’t a frontline starter. In 2021 he posted a 3.52 ERA in High-A Everett before making three starts in Double-A Arkansas at the end of the year in which he posted a 2.53 ERA. He also had some intriguing stuff with a solid mid-90’s fastball and three secondaries.

While his 2022 campaign wasn’t pretty prior to the trade with a 5.28 ERA in Double-A, the Reds liked what they saw. And Stoudt got off to a fast start in the Reds organization as they started him in Triple-A Louisville to end ‘22 where he threw up a 3.32 ERA across six starts.

But things went awry the next year. Stoudt eventually made a stint in the big leagues, but gave up 11 earned runs in 10.1 innings of work. His time there was short-lived.

He wasn’t much better in Triple-A that year either, as he finished with a 6.23 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP in 25 appearances (19 of them were starts). His command really took a nosedive, walking 50 batters in 82.1 innings (a BB/9 of nearly seven).

He is now no longer with the Reds. The Mariners claimed Stoudt to bring him back into the fold once Cincinnati DFA’d him. But Stoudt ran into similar issues in Tacoma this year with the Mariners, getting hit hard and struggling to find command. He held a 6.92 ERA, a 1.73 WHIP and 5.2 BB/9.