Why it's a 'small miracle' Mariners traded $21.6 million All-Star to White Sox

The Seattle Mariners have slim postseason hopes. 

But at least they managed to shed some payroll at the trade deadline. 

Right-hander Luis Castillo, traded from the Mariners to the Chicago White Sox before the August 1 deadline, is owed $21.6 million in 2027. 

For as bad as he's been recently, Seattle's front office may have gotten away with highway murder. 

The three-time All-Star has a 7.76 ERA with 41 hits allowed, including eight home runs, in 29 innings since joining the White Sox. 

"If you were expecting Cal Raleigh here, you've slept through the part where he has a 1.200 OPS over his last 18 games. His resurgence has done nothing to help salvage Seattle's dreadful record, but at least he has turned things around," Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote about not picking Raleigh as the player who's provided the worst value to Seattle in 2026. 

"Castillo never did, and it's a small miracle that the M's managed to trade him (and what's left on his contract) to Chicago ahead of the deadline," Miller added. 

I'd upgrade that "small" miracle to a big one. It's not like Castillo was performing well before the deadline. 

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The 33-year-old had a 5.06 ERA and struck out fewer than eight batters per nine innings in 99.2 innings with the Mariners. 

Consider the trade a stupendous job by Seattle's front office to get rid of Castillo's contract. 

The White Sox needed an upgrade or two for their rotation, but this could be a move that comes back to bite them. 

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