The Cubs have landed utilityman Willi Castro from the Twins, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Minnesota will receive multiple prospects in return, and ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers specifies those players as minor league pitchers Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong.
The switch-hitting Castro can play all over the diamond, but he’ll surely get most of his playing time in Chicago at third base. The Cubs haven’t gotten much from the position all season, even though top prospect Matt Shaw has been on fire since the All-Star break. Shaw could continue to get at-bats as long as he continues to hit, with Castro spelling him on occasion and moving into more of a regular role if Shaw comes back to earth.
Since coming to Minnesota as a free agent in the 2022-23 offseason, Castro has hit .250/.335/.398 over 1388 plate appearances and played at every position on the field except catcher and first base. Beyond just being a plug-and-play fill-in for the Twins’ many injuries over the years, Castro forced his way into more of a regular role with his solid hitting both sides of the plate, and a 34-steal season in 2023. That havoc on the basepaths may have been a one-year outlier (he is 23-of-35 in steal attempts over the last two seasons), but Castro is nevertheless a solid all-around contributor.
Castro is also inexpensive, as the Cubs will owe him roughly $2MM for the remainder of the 2025 season before the utilityman enters free agency this winter. Between his salary, rental status, and ability to fit into pretty much any roster, Castro drew a lot of buzz as the deadline approached, with such teams as the Astros, Yankees, and Mariners listed as known suitors.
This interest allowed the Twins to land two pitching prospects for a rental player. MLB Pipeline ranks Gallagher as the eighth-best prospect in the Chicago farm system, while Armstrong just barely cracked Baseball America’s preseason Cubs ranking in the 30th spot on the list. This duo will join the haul of young talent Minnesota received as part of their enormous deadline-day selloff.
Gallagher was a sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft, and he has already reached the Double-A Knoxville in his first pro season. Gallagher has a 3.43 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 5.9% walk rate over 84 combined innings at the high-A and Double-A levels, with 11 1/3 of those frames coming in Knoxville. His top two pitches are a changeup and a fastball, with the latter pitch standing out for its “quality induced vertical break and command” (according to Pipeline’s scouting report) moreso than velocity in the 90-93 mph range.
Armstrong was a 13th-round pick for Chicago in 2023, and he has a 4.62 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate in 89 2/3 innings in Knoxville this season. BA’s scouting report says Armstrong has “a kitchen sink’s worth of pitches” but perhaps not a true signature pitch among his six offerings, as his slider gets the highest grade with a relatively modest 50. Armstrong has posted some good grounder rates across his minor league career, but it would seem he might have trouble continually fooling batters without premium stuff.
Holy crap, is Jed awake? Yes.. He is
Hardly, Joe Ryan was the target here. And now the Red Sox are going to swoop in bc Jed decided to not go all-in.
Care to comment on that one again?
Cubs just got a good one.
A good what
“Jed has been on a bender since signing his extension & will be out of the office until he sobers up sometime next week, if you need immediate assistance please contact Tom Rickets @ CUBS R DUMB”
Twins triple A night next home stand!
At least they don’t have to go far to get from St Paul. Probably don’t even have to change housing accommodations
The Twins are heading back to the future. In the 1950s, Minneapolis and St. Paul each had a Triple A team. Now, Twins fans will again have a choice of watching Triple-A ball in each of the Twin Cities.
Useful player. They need more pitching but hey the Brewers and Reds haven’t done much either.
The Reds added Littell and Hayes. Try to keep up.
Thats not a lot. And what have the Brewers added?
Like I said the Brewers and Reds haven’t done much either.
Hays cant hit. Littell is a backend starter. Those are small moves. Just like Castro, Soroka and Kittredge. All 3 Central teams have pooped the bed from what I can see right now.
But with all the moves your Cardinals have made you should be able to stay ahead of the Pirates!!! Bahahahaha….
They still have a little time but Assad is nearing his return in the minors and Taillion just resumed throwing again. I agree they need a top end guy, but they have depth coming back.
I thought there was a very small chance NYM might trade Senga.
He can’t get through to the 6th inning, has to be given extra days and kind of fragile. Taxes the bullpen too much ERA good but really like a 3 starter. He missed all of 2024. I won’t be surprised if he gets traded in offseason. Maybe with arcane rules he can be traded this year.
It seems counterintuitive but I would have quietly shopped him and our closer Diaz who can opt out and might
The Brewers fully caught and passed us. The onus was on us to make a move. We are in trouble
This potentially being their one shot with Kyle Tucker, I really thought it would be no holds barred at the deadline for CHC. Boy was I wrong.
Does he pitch?
Wake up! This guy gets them the bench bat with multiple position versatility they haven’t had all year. Not a marquee name but this is a very solid move.
Ah yes solid. Exactly the top move we need 😂. Jed is this you?
It’s obviously a joke lol
Right. Because Brujan and Turner have been so awesome. There’s your joke, sport.
Hey man, you ok? It’s like you took that super personally for some reason.
Yeah, this helps some. Gives flexibility across 2B-3B. I think they could get him reps at third.
Good ball player. Solid, versatile guy. A player to consider resigning during the off season. We’ll see. There’s other resigning/extension priorities
Jed did alright I gotta say. They were all solid moves. Footnote: All the other prospects traded are off the top 30 prospects in MLB but Gallagher is still there. Oversight? Or was it somebody else moved? He got a couple of short men and a long man and the SH bench guy they looked for for 4 years. Now get him signed up because I thought I read he has a player option for next year. You gave up solid worth to get him, Now keep him. Jed didn’t trade much of the future. The benefit of having him around for the future.
Exactly. This guy can play 6 positions. Look how important Ben Zobrist was to the Cubs in 2016. Doubt we win the World Series without him. This is him! Also, in a move that was addition by subtraction, when the Cubs traded for Taylor Rogers, a solid lefty for the pen, they DFAd Ryan Pressley. At least he won’t have the chance to crush our chances in October by blowing big games where we had the lead.
Returning injured CUB starters will help but CUBs take a step backward in 2026 if Tucker leaves
I hope Tucker starts hitting like a 500 million dollar man again. He’s been brutal since the break
The Cubs are still alive!
Let me guess: for cash?
Bye bye berti
I think that this is a Brujan replacement. Moises will go back to Iowa until September 1.
That was my first thought too, but we need Berti pitching when we get blown out every other week lol
Castro has 6 career pitching appearances, so they’ve got that covered.
Another potential red off the board
Good player to have on the team.
Say it with me Cubs fans… Thank you AJ Hinch
Now go get Ryan, Gore, Cabrera or Gallen.
Heck yes! This is a good move! Yes, a starter please!
Hell no now lose all of your games so the brewers can win even though I hate them too
A Jed move I can get behind. nice move Jed. Atta Boy. Sorry Moises but back to Iowa.
We dont know what he gave up, but I like the pickup. Still, needed Ryan and this tells me they tried and couldnt make it work. Now Boston rumored to be trying to get Ryan at last minute bc Jed chickened out.
As long as it’s not a top P, Or Caissie, The Cubs have tons of infield prospects at Iowa to be moved.This is a move that needed to be made.
Robert, what did the Twins ask for in exchange for Ryan. I can’t find it anywhere. Please share with the group.
Can’t even find out what they gave up for Castro. Happiest guy in Chicago right now is CC. He just lit up a cigar.
Gallagher and Armstrong.
That’s a bit much. But if they’re serious I guess it’s OK. I’m in the minority that thinks the Cubs don’t need a Starter. They just need to look down to Iowa and wait for their guys to come back.
Please
That’s groundbreaking. You have a podcast?
They seem to be trading guys who won’t likely be significant contributors until 2028 or later. As of 5:55 Eastern Gallagher was the highest prospect traded.
Gallagher is at AA and is very good. I don’t think it will take him long to move up. But Schlaffer and Wiggins are now at AA. They have 4 guys that are usable at AAA( Wicks, Noland, Sanders, Assad) They have moves they can make with Brown and Horton here they can mix and match. So yeah it was deep. If you want something good you gotta pay.
Aloha uncle, agreed. Happy to have Castro for the rest of the year and it didn’t mortgage the future. Mahalo
Cubs get the bench player the fans wanted. Castro, Soroka, Kittredge, not big splashes but solid
They still need a playoff starter or this was all a waste. Shouldve kept Bellinger and Paredes and Cam Smith. Tucker walks this winter.
If he gets a starter, this is a great deadline.
I see you Jed 😂
Nice pick up.
I like it. Now go get Ryan.
Hell no let us keep a single good player
You have to go for it, dude. There’s no chance they give Tucker the money he’s gonna want. Gotta go all in if you’re serious about a deep postseason run.
Well then don’t go on a post season run boom that simple 🤯
Well they have to money give it to him it’s god damn Chicago
Agreed. No way on Tucker. Excel Sports Management noted that Tucker could only be looking for a $475 million deal over 10 years. The Cubs ownership won’t allow that.
475 sounds too heavy unless he goes on a tear soon. His OPS isn’t even .900
Twins 40 man down to like 15
Joe Ryan to red Sox
Not even close
Jed thought the deadline was tomorrow
His definition of being “all in” is different than general managers who actually want to win
Do the Twins really only have only have 2 players signed for next year?
I was worried a couple days ago. But now I’m looking forward to my Tigers playing Min and Cle.
Whose going to the twins?
The Cubs absolutely need a 1-3 type starting pitcher. While I like the switch hitting utility guy, they still need the sp. Hopefully we’ll get there in the next 15 minutes!!
We didn’t. Don’t act surprised.
This is a very solid addition. Cubs fans should be happy. Now let’s see who they have up.
17 minutes left!!
Multiple prospects for him?? Hope not..he is a nice bench player..but multiple prospects idk..rather seen more pitching even if its low level prospects..but we will see what they gave up
It will be a couple of back end top 30 types. They aren’t giving up much for an expiring contract.
Soroka trade speaks diff. Jed is gonna Jed.
Can he pitch?
No bro read the damn article
Great, now flush Turner.
Multiple?! Brother’s OPS+ is league average.
Gallagher and Armstrong going back to Minnesota. Fair trade, definitely not top prospects.
Jed is gonna Jed. He’s not all in. It has been, and always will be, half measures.
D Chicago. Expensive for little impact.
A+ Twins Strong mid rotation prospect for rental.
It’s evident the Cubs are not big boy players. Ricketts gives Jed a new contract before the deadline which gives Jed a comfort zone to not have make significant trades. My goodness this organization is truly lost when it’s time to pay the fans back with an “all in attitude.” So very sad that their priorities are so skewed.
What big forehead guy said
Jed is certainly the Anti-Preller. It is amazing how different those two guys are. Big difference in quality of farm systems now, but prospects need to be used sometime to make the big moves like Preller does. Palencia is great at the closer role, but can you imagine a lights out combo of Mason Miller/Daniel Palencia to close out games for the Cubs? It suddenly becomes a 7 inning game for Chicago if that happened. Kittredge and Roger’s are very nice additions and you can never have too many left-handed bullpen arms, but Miller would look awful good for the next 5+ years in Cubbie blue!
When was the last time you saw 2 closers work well together on the same team?
Death, taxes and MLBTR crashes on deadline day
Jed Hoyer has to be one of the worst POBO in the sport. Everyone he acquired has an expiring contract and he didn’t fulfill the Cubs needs. He is pitiful, if this is going all in oh my Lord. Jed is nothing more than a pawn of team ownership. We’re still waiting for something to happen with the $30 million salary dump when they traded Cody Bellinger, which ownership said it wasn’t a dump. The money is being repurposed is what Tom Ricketts claimed. Where so ownership can buy more buildings in Wrigleyville
The. Need money to donate to king Trump.
He’s fantastic in MLB 25 🤷♂️
Next to the twins, Jed easily earned an f for not doing what it would take with unlimited resources to put winning team all the way. But does he care for he got his extension!