Similar to last week when we looked at who the Mets could try to trade for from the Oakland A’s, at it seems like they’re going to start selling off some of their (in their eyes) more expensive pieces, let’s do the same for the Cincinnati Reds this week.

Let’s get this started with the lack of ambiguity from the Reds’ front office. In a statement regarding the trade of Tucker Barnhart, who had a $7.5 million salary for 2022, general manager Nick Krall said (courtesy of C. Trent Rosecrans), “Going into 2022, we must align our payroll to our resources and continue focusing on scouting and developing young talent from within our system.” So, they’re slashing payroll.

They followed that up by putting Wade Miley–a 6-WAR pitcher in 2021 who threw a no hitter and will likely earn some down-ballot Cy Young votes–on waivers. The Cubs claimed Miley and his $10 million deal.

On top of all that, they’re likely not going to bring back Nick Castellanos–or at least they’ll claim they can’t afford him–after Castellanos declined his 2022 player option. (He’ll likely be the top free agent outfielder along with Michael Conforto and Starling Marte.) They’ll make sure to offer him the qualifying offer so they get a compensatory pick when he declines it, though.

So that leaves you wondering: who else are the Reds ready to ship out of Cincinnati?

The most intriguing option is Luis Castillo. The soon-to-be-29-year-old has pitched to a 3.72 ERA over five seasons with the Reds, turning himself into one of the better pitchers in the National League. He might have one of the higher ceilings in the majors, too. The righty got off to a rough start in 2021, giving up 42 earned runs in the first two months of the year. From June 4 on, though, Castillo pitched to a 2.73 ERA the rest of the way (41 earned runs over the last four months). That’s the Castillo from 2019-2020.

Castillo has two more years of team control, including a projected $7.25 million salary in 2022. That’s extremely affordable (unless, of course, you seem to be the Reds). You’d likely have to throw multiple top prospects in a deal for the righty, though, and he’d be highly coveted across the majors if there are hints that he’s available.

That brings the conversation to another pitcher: righty Sonny Gray. Gray’s first two years in Cincinnati were a boon, tossing a 3.07 ERA in 42 starts. He finished seventh in Cy Young Award voting in 2019, and he really righted the ship after a tough 2018 pitching in Yankee Stadium half the year. He regressed a bit in 2021, though, with a 4.19 ERA (3.99 FIP). Even with those numbers, Gray could be a great middle-of-the-rotation guy for the Mets, who are desperate for starting pitching this offseason.

Gray has an affordable $10.2 million contract for 2022 with a 2023 club option. (He has a $1 million trade kicker and a couple innings escalators in his contract, too.)

Then there are three aging, expensive hitters on the Reds: first baseman Joey Votto, third baseman Eugenio Suarez and infielder Mike Moustakas.

Votto is a Reds legend, and he likely won’t get dealt, but he’s also making $50 million over the next two seasons. If the Reds want to save more money, they can do it in one fell sweep by dealing Votto and one of their pitchers.

Last season was a revelation for Votto. A consistent high-on-base-percentage guy for his whole career, Votto transformed his offensive approach at age 37 to hit the ball in the air (he had his highest fly-ball percentage of his career) with ideal contact (he had the highest barrel percentage of his career since they started recording it in 2015). The result was the third-highest home run (37) and slugging (.563) totals of his 15-year career. (He still got on base nearly 38 percent of the time, too.) He can still play first base well, and should a designated hitter come to the NL, he’d slot along nicely flip flopping with Pete Alonso.

Suarez and Moustakas, on the other hand, are pretty pricy for where their value is. A slightly above-average hitter the last half-dozen seasons, Moustakas had an injury-riddled 2021, and when he played, he had just a .653 OPS. (For reference, a struggling Jeff McNeil had a .679 OPS, plays the same positions and won’t cost $34 million over the next two years.)

And while Suarez still has pop–his 31 home runs in 2021 brought him to 95 total over the last three seasons–he’s also owed close to $34 million over the next three seasons. His defensive numbers at third base are less-than-ideal, and both his average and on-base percentage have plunged as he’s still been hitting dingers.

This pair of infielders feel like the type of players added to a deal to lessen the prospect return sent back to Cincinnati (i.e. the Mets take Moustakas along with Castillo to send back a less stellar prospect package).

But there’s also a scenario the Mets try to grab a handful of these Reds players while also tossing Robinson Cano in a deal in return (he has two years and about $41 million left on his contract). That would easy the financial burden the Mets take back, but it would also maximize the prospect return the Reds get by trading away guys like Gray and Votto.