Week in review: Talking free agent pitchers and more

In looking back at the last week of stories in this space, we had quite the variety. There was, of course, Manny Machado trade talk, also some free agent pitching discussion and a look at Chance Sisco's opportunity to make the 2018 Orioles.

There was a post on Arizona's top two pitching prospects with the D-backs a potential Machado trading partner. There was also a look at Miguel Castro as a starter candidate and the latest payroll math after Friday's arbitration agreements. It was an active week here, especially considering that no moves were actually made.

Did any fans notice the lack of moves?

On Tuesday, we took another look at free agent right-hander Andrew Cashner. Could he be had for a two-year deal?

Cashner signed a one-year $10 million deal with Texas last winter and it paid off for the Rangers. After pitching to ERAs of 4.34 in 2015 and 5.25 in 2016, he went 11-11 with an ERA of 3.40 over 166 2/3 innings. That ranked as the ninth-best ERA in the American League, and he ranked second in homers/nine innings (0.8), seventh in pitches per inning (15.8) and seventh in groundball percentage (49 percent). If he pitches like that next season, he'll be a nice add for any team.

Speaking of starters, we took a long look at Castro's chance to make the rotation on Wednesday. He showed real promise out of the bullpen. Now can he handle lineups the second and third time through the order and can he fare better versus lefty batters?

Castro gave up a .193/.263/.310 batting line versus right-handed batters last year with an OPS against of .573. But against lefty batters, those numbers were .272/.369/.478 with an OPS against of .848. Facing teams stacked with lefty hitters as a starter will be a challenge based on those 2017 numbers.

On Friday, we profiled Arizona's top two pitching prospects, according to Baseball America. They are right-hander Jon Duplantier, who is ranked as their No. 1 prospect, and left-hander Anthony Banda, who made the majors last year, at No. 2. Both may be in the national top 100 when we see new lists come out from various outlets this winter.

Click here to revisit any of our recent stories. As always, keep the questions and comments coming today on these topics and more - or any that especially interest you.