At one point this offseason, it seemed like there was a real chance the Red Sox and the Mariners could work out a big trade involving Luis Castillo.

Well, it no longer seems like Castillo will open the 2025 campaign in Boston. Or in any other city outside of Seattle, for that matter.

The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude recently reported the Mariners are “less likely now” to trade Castillo than they were earlier in the offseason. The report was issued after Seattle signed 2019 All-Star Jorge Polanco, whose addition effectively signaled a complete roster in the Pacific Northwest.

The Mariners badly needed to add infield help this winter, and many thought the organization could use a Castillo trade to fulfill that goal. The Red Sox once seemed like an ideal trade partner for a Castillo deal, as they entered the offseason with a clear need to bolster their rotation and boast assets that potentially could have appealed to the M’s. But Boston and Seattle never appeared to seriously negotiate a potential Castillo swap, and the former complemented new ace Garrett Crochet by signing two-time All-Star Walker Buehler.

That said, we probably shouldn’t close the book on a possible Castillo trade this year. If the Mariners struggle over the first few months of the season, Castillo could be a textbook trade deadline candidate given his contract and the kind of return he could command.