Yanks acquire Miguel Castro in trade with Mets

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Yankees and Mets completed the 16th trade in their collective histories on Sunday, with right-hander Miguel Castro heading to the Bronx for left-hander Joely Rodríguez.

It had been almost four years since the last interborough trade, when they swapped Minor Leaguers in April 2018.

The last significant deal involving Major Leaguers was another reliever swap in 2004, when the Bombers received left-hander Mike Stanton -- a former Yankee who won three rings in the Bronx -- from the Mets in exchange for left-hander Felix Heredia.

"He's coming off a great season last year," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We're pretty familiar with him, just facing him with the Mets and Baltimore for a lot of those years. He's a guy with great stuff and we think he deepens our 'pen a little bit."

Castro, 27, was 3-4 with a 3.45 ERA in a career-high 69 appearances, including two starts (both as an opener), with the Mets in 2021. His 0.9 home runs per nine innings and 6.1 hits per nine were career bests, while he led all Mets relievers in appearances and innings pitched (70 1/3) and held opposing batters to a .189 (48-for-254) batting average.

Over his seven-year Major League career, Castro has gone 11-22 with seven saves and a 4.13 ERA in 299 appearances (four starts) for the Blue Jays (2015), Rockies (2015-16), Orioles (2017-20) and Mets (2020-21).

"He's got electric stuff," said Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was a teammate of Castro's with the Blue Jays in 2015. "He's been reliable, from what I can remember at least, of being able to go out there and pitch when needed."

Rodríguez, 30, split last season between the Rangers and Yankees, going 2-3 with one save and a 4.66 ERA in a career-high 52 relief appearances. He has a career record of 3-5 with one save and a 4.61 ERA in 102 relief appearances over four Major League seasons with the Phillies (2016-17), Rangers (2020-21) and Yankees (2021).

Sunday’s deal was the third swap between the Yankees and Mets since 2005. In April 2018, the Yankees acquired infielder/outfielder L.J. Mazzilli from the Mets for outfielder Kendall Coleman. In December 2014, the Yankees acquired right-hander Gonzalez Germen from the Mets for cash considerations.