Yankees set for up-close look at potential trade target Luis Castillo

Yankees players and coaches will head to the Bronx tonight aiming to win a series they should've swept.

Yankees brass would love that, too, but their mind might be somewhere else on Thursday night.

Luis Castillo will get the ball for his final start before the All-Star break, and being one of the top trade candidates in MLB right now, the Yanks are surely going to watch closely. 

The Reds' only All-Star this season, Castillo owns a career-best 2.92 ERA in 12 starts (71.0 innings) and has given up just two earned runs in his last three starts (20 innings). While Cincy has been a bottom of the barrel team, Castillo has given them a great chance to win games. 

According to The New York Post's Jon Heyman, the Reds have been asking GM Brian Cashman for one of the Yankees' top shortstop prospects, Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe, in a potential Castillo deal.

That's just not going to happen, so it'll be interesting to see if that price tag stays true through the Aug. 2 deadline. Castillo has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time, but this time it feels like he is finally going to move.

The Yanks are also in a predicament now with their starting rotation, a stellar group to start the season, beginning to falter. With the exception of Gerrit Cole, the rotation has regressed a bit, with Jameson Taillon being the worst of the five. He can't keep the ball in the ballpark, and because of that, he owns a 6.75 ERA after giving up 20 earned runs in 26.2 innings over his last five starts.

As a team destined for the postseason, the Yankees need to make sure they can trust their rotation to set the tone in October. If not, a move needs to be made in the next few weeks.

That's why Castillo will have everyone, even the fans in the stands, watching. Can he handle the bright lights of the city? Can he carve his way through one of the best lineups in the game?

If he can, the intrigue gets even higher and the Yanks might want to see first-hand how he can do that for them instead of against them.