Tuesday morning, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a trade that involved catcher Wellington Castillo heading to Seattle for Mariners righty reliever Yoervis Medina.
Castillo, 28, has a slash line of .163/.234/.349 (43 ABs) and two home runs in a backup role for the Cubs. In past seasons, he has been the main guy behind the plate for Chicago, but after signing David Ross and trading for Miguel Montero, Castillo became expendable and that is the reason for the trade. He has played his entire six-year Major League career with the Cubs since signing as an amateur free agent in 2006.
The Mariners are giving up an expendable piece of their bullpen as well in Yoervis Medina. Medina, 26, started the season with the big league club but was eventually sent down to AAA Tacoma in April. The right hander touted a 3.00 ERA with one save in 12 appearances for Seattle this year before being sent down. In Tacoma, he is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four games pitched in 2015.
Castillo joins a Mariners squad that is looking for answers at the catching position. Mike Zunino has had his struggles at the plate this season and maybe this move will put some pressure on Zunino to step it up a bit.
This is mainly a depth move for Seattle with Jesus Sucre and John Baker in AAA not providing the type of depth at the catchers position that Seattle necessarily wants. What Castillo brings to the Mariners is a capable backup bat that can backup Zunino as it isn't likely that Castillo will take over the starting spot.
Medina will report to AAA Iowa for the Cubs while it is expected that Castillo will join the Mariners in Baltimore with a corresponding move taking place at a later time.