Yankees Trade for Miguel Castro; Mets Land Joely Rodriguez

The New York Yankees and New York Mets have swapped relievers before the start of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. 

The Yankees announced Sunday they will receive Miguel Castro from the Mets in exchange for Joely Rodriguez. 

The Mets were set to enter the regular season with a right-hand heavy bullpen. Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio, both non-roster invitees to spring training, were their only potential lefty relief options before the deal. 

Rodriguez gives manager Buck Showalter a lefty matchup reliever to utilize. The 30-year-old held left-handed hitters to a .203/.288/.271 slash line with one homer in 59 at-bats last season. 

The downside is Rodriguez is only limited to getting lefties out. Right-handed hitters pummeled him with a .339/.380/.446 slash line in 2021. Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo are more than capable of keeping righties at bay. 

Castro has turned into a reliable middle reliever after a rough start to his career. The Dominican native had a 6.12 ERA in 37 appearances with the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies from 2015-16. 

Since the start of the 2017 season, Castro has posted a 3.93 ERA in 262 appearances with the Mets and Baltimore Orioles. He has thrown at least 70 innings in each of the last three full seasons (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic-shortened year). 

Castro allowed his fewest hits per nine innings (6.1) and had his most strikeouts in a single season (77) during the 2021 campaign with the Mets. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be able to slot Castro in to a multi-inning relief role. He could also use him as a setup man on certain days if he wants to give his other arms a day off during the season.