Luis Castillo
Luis Castillo has had a coming out party this year for the Reds, as the first-time all-star is currently 9-3 with a 2.41 ERA.
He has 134 strikeouts to 56 walks, a 1.116 WHIP, an ERA plus of 191, and a WAR of 3.7.
Over his last eight starts, Castillo has allowed opponents to hit just .178, while allowing only 30 hits in over 47 innings.
In other words, the guy is a stud; a legitimate ace that would make a scary trio of him, Dallas Keuchel, and Mike Soroka.
Castillo will be a free agent in 2024, so he has four years of control after this season.
The price for Castillo will be insanely high, as it should be, and there are only a handful of organizations that could afford him, but the Braves are certainly one.
According to Baseball Trade Values, Castillo carries a value of 62.3. For comparison, Soroka has a value of 56.3.
Two of the Braves top five prospects would have to be included in any prospective deal.
According to Fangraphs The Board!, those top five prospects are Pache, Waters, Anderson, Kyle Wright, and William Contreras.
Pache has a FV of 60, while Waters, Anderson, and Wright have FV’s of 55.
Going strictly by values, a trade would theoretically look like this:
It would seem likely that an overpay would be necessary in a trade for a controllable ace like Castillo, so I doubt the package above would be enough.