The New York Yankees have more justification than anyone to put all their chips on the table this season.
As the Major League Baseball trade deadline approaches on Aug. 2, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will have to decide how much he'd like to invest in a team that is currently on pace to break the record for most wins in MLB history.
While the team appears to be unstoppable, a recent injury has dampened the strength of New York's rotation. Luis Severino suffered a low-grade right lat strain and was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday.
The ailment is expected to be short term, but the injury-prone right-hander has been down this road before. He went down with a lat strain in April of 2019 and did not return until September.
Could the Yankees go over the top and acquire another front-line starter to replace Severino and further bolster an already loaded roster? They reportedly have had interest in one of the top starters on the market for years.
"The Yankees love Luis Castillo and have been trying to acquire him off and on for a couple of years, and word is the Yankees and (Los Angeles) Dodgers are best-positioned to land the All-Star right-hander, who's likely the best starter on the market," the New York Post's Jon Heyman wrote Thursday. "The Yankees have said they won't part with either of the Reds' prime targets -- Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza -- and maintain that won't change."
Volpe and Peraza are the Yankees' No. 1 and No. 2 prospects, respectively. It appears the two sides have some work to do before reaching an agreement, but a deal certainly is doable.
Castillo is 3-4 with a 2.77 ERA and an 82-to-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 13 starts (78 innings). He'd be an intimating addition to a rotation that already boasts Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery, Jameson Taillon and potentially Severino upon return.
Adding Castillo into the mix would give the Yankees the most touted postseason rotation in baseball, headlined by three All-Stars.
