Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

After acquiring one of the top catchers available on the free agent market, the New York Mets are now one step closer to rounding out their roster, although adding a frontline starter before next season still remains extremely important.

While the front office has been linked to Trevor Bauer this offseason, it would also make plenty of sense for them to target two of his former teammates who’ve each been recently made available through trade.

Even though pitchers Luis Castillo, 28, and Sonny Gray, 31, served as major contributors to the Cincinnati Reds’ playoff run last season, the COVID-19 pandemic has reportedly placed a significant strain on their current financial situation. This has forced management to reduce the club’s payroll for the 2021 campaign, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Without question, acquiring one of either Castillo or Gray would be a major upgrade to the Mets’ starting rotation, especially since Noah Syndergaard probably won’t return from his Tommy John surgery until June at the earliest.

But it’s not like the Reds are planning to simply give away one or even both of their two top hurlers for free. Instead there’s a very strong chance they’ll be looking to receive a haul of prospects in return.

Considering president Sandy Alderson and his staff are attempting to strengthen the organization’s minor league system, they likely aren’t overly interested in subtracting even further from their pool of talented young players, as they’d prefer to primarily acquire impact players through free agency.

That being said, taking on a high-priced contract could be the perfect solution to this problem, which would certainly reduce the cost of the package heading the other way.

Since Castillo still has three years of team control remaining and is also eligible for arbitration during that same timeframe, the Reds probably wouldn’t save all that much by dumping his entire contract, allowing them to command highly-touted prospects in exchange for his services. As for Gray, the 5-foot-10 hurler will earn approximately $20.5 million over the next two seasons and his contract also features a $12 million club option for the 2023 campaign, making him the more favorable trade chip.

So let’s say New York decides to absorb the remainder of his salary, which could grow even higher due to several escalators included in his deal, this would bring Cincinnati’s 40-man roster payroll down significantly closer to $100 million in 2021.

Looking ahead to future seasons, making this move would also provide them with a ton of financial flexibility starting in 2022, as they’d be sitting over $100 million under the luxury tax threshold.

Based on the financial relief this trade would bring to the Reds, there’s a solid chance the Mets would be able to avoid losing any of their top 10 prospects, and rightfully so considering the amount of money they’d be taking on in this acquisition.

As a result, it seems packaging prospects Carlos Cortes – a left-handed hitting second baseman – and Endy Rodriguez – a switch-hitting catcher who’s also capable of playing in the outfield – together could be a fair price to pay and they’d both fit perfectly into the minor league system that general manager Nick Krall and his staff have built over the last few seasons.

Despite struggling mightily during his first stint in New York, Gray has since regained the dominant form he featured during his time in Oakland and has also bought into the new age of pitching as well. Working with pitching coach Derek Johnson, who recruited him to Vanderbilt so many years ago, the right-hander reverted back to what worked for him earlier in his career, allowing the veteran hurler to enjoy a ton of success over the last two seasons.

Over his combined 42 appearances since 2019, the former first-round selection has compiled 231 1/3 innings, producing a 3.07 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 3.53 xFIP, 1.12 WHIP, .195 AVG, .264 BABIP, .267 wOBA, 29.4% strikeout rate, 10.0% walk rate, 19.9% LD rate, 50.9% GB rate, 29.2% FB rate, 13.0% HR/FB rate, 32.1% hard-hit rate, 5.9% barrel rate, an 87.8 mph average exit velocity, and a 6.0 fWAR rating.

In comparison to the rest of the major leagues, the two-time All-Star finished tied with the third-lowest AVG,  the fourth-lowest BABIP, the seventh-lowest hard-hit rate, the eighth-lowest FIP and barrel rate, the 10th-highest strikeout rate, the 10th-lowest average exit velocity, and the 13th-highest fWAR rating among all qualified starting pitchers, according to FanGraphs.com.

Additionally, he also created the fourth-highest GB rate, the fifth-lowest ERA, along with the 11th-lowest xFIP and WHIP.

Adjusting to the times, Gray has focused on spinning the baseball a lot more during his tenure with the Reds, which has certainly paid off in a massive way. Refining his repertoire over the last two seasons, the former Yankee has increased the spin rate and active spin percentage on all six of his offerings, allowing him to improve each of their vertical and horizontal movements.

Utilizing these adjustments to his advantage, the Nashville native has since produced far more swings and misses with both of his fastballs – posting career-high strikeout rates last season with his four-seamer (23.4%) and sinker (37.5%). But among all of his pitches, he’s particularly witnessed significant changes to both his breaking balls since being traded to Cincinnati.

Along with reducing his slider’s velocity, down from 85 mph in 2018 to 82.8 mph last season, it also averaged the fifth-most inches of break (45.4 inches), the 11th-most inches of drop (16.8 inches), and the third-highest active spin percentage (81.2%) among all pitchers who threw at least 100 pitches in 2020, according to BaseballSavant.com.

As for his curveball, Gray has increased its usage by 2.8% – it served as his primary pitch in 2020 – and has reduced its velocity by 1.4 mph since the 2018 campaign. Digging into its movements, the Vanderbilt standout’s primary breaking ball averaged 54.7 inches of drop (39th-most), 15.2 inches of break (ninth-most), and a 90.2% active spin percentage (13th-highest) last season.

Taking into account these recent adjustments, there’s no doubting the former Athletic would drastically improve the Mets’ pitching staff and help them significantly improve their run prevention moving forward. Paired with Marcus Stroman, who posted a 53.7% GB rate in 2019, the duo would definitely induce a massive amount of ground balls next season.

Once Syndergaard returns, Gray could slot in behind him and Jacob deGrom within the rotation, potentially providing New York with one of the top pitching staffs in the majors. Adding to this, if the club’s defense can take a positive step forward in 2021, then they might be able to finally break through their recent woes and participate in October baseball next fall.

Even if the Reds’ asking price for Gray proves to be too expensive, which appears to be the case as of right now, it’s clear the Mets are determined to land an impact starter this winter and certainly have the resources to make that happen whether it’s through free agency or via trade.