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Willi Castro and Tommy Edman may not be identical players stylistically, but they’re both super-utility types who can be extremely valuable in the right role and circumstance. The Dodgers showed how valuable they believe such a player to be when they signed Tommy Edman to a 5-year, $74-million contract. With the Twins in a financial bind, they may find themselves looking at this deal and determining that their team MVP last season is even more valuable than we thought.
Edman has had an up-and-down career, with a peak 2022 season in which he posted a .725 OPS to go along with the elite up-the-middle defense he’s consistently shown. In the two years since, he’s failed to reach those heights again, including a 2024 season in which even the defense disappointed—albeit in limited time, without a set position, and coming off a pair of major injuries. Still, the Dodgers see Edman’s skillset as one they want on their roster (with World Series aspirations) for the next five years.
While Willi Castro lacks the high-end glove to hold up consistently at positions like center field and shortstop, he can fill in as needed and move around pretty much everywhere in the field. While he could likely settle into a few positions and provide plus defense, his ability to be available elsewhere is one of his strengths. Castro has shown more upside offensively, as his .750 OPS in 2023 and .717 OPS in 2024 were each 8% above the league average in those seasons. He also brings the same ability to switch-hit that Edman does.
One could argue that Castro has a slight offensive edge over Edman, while Edman holds a significant defensive advantage. Castro likely wouldn’t attract the same deal on the open market today as Edman, especially considering the Dodgers had reportedly been trying to trade for him for years, but this deal suggests that Castro’s skillset may be valued more highly league-wide than we thought.
There’s an arms race among the teams like the Dodgers and Mets, who are ready to make a statement with their payrolls. These teams will surely fill out the core of their rosters with high-end players like Juan Soto and Blake Snell. No addition appears to be off-limits for several teams this winter. Intelligent organizations understand that depth on their roster will become as valuable as the big names. As we saw with the Dodgers when they acquired and extended Edman, these teams understand how valuable a player like Castro can be.
The Dodgers gave up former top-100 prospect Miguel Vargas and two young, far-off prospects for Edman and Michael Kopech in a three-team deal. While Castro has just the 2025 season left under contract, Edman was in the midst of one of the lower-end offensive seasons of his career when acquired. It’s fair to wonder whether a team such as the Blue Jays, Red Sox, or Mets would be willing to give up some pieces that have a shot to contribute in 2025 at some point. Shedding Castro’s estimated $6.8 million contract would also offer the Twins some financial flexibility to add at other positions, which is a consideration of this offseason.
The Twins, of course, have seen the value in Castro’s skillset firsthand. While it can be argued that his potential value on the trade market just increased, it doesn’t change how much of an impact he can have on a 2025 Twins roster hoping to get back to the playoffs. For a team with so many players who miss chunks of time every season, Castro has been valuable beyond measure the last two seasons. An exciting wave of youth is still arriving over the next year, but it would be fair of the Twins to decide that a super-utility player such as Castro is more of a luxury than a need on this roster.
Does Tommy Edman’s price mean the Twins should be more open to trading Willi Castro? Should they be checking in with the big-budget teams who can’t buy such a skillset on the open market? Should Castro be completely off-limits? Let us know below!
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