There has been a lot of chatter regarding 27-year-old Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo. (Read here for some reactions to his well-attended recent workout, which seems to have increased his standing quite a bit around the league.) We’ll keep tabs on the latest right here:
- The Tigers, Red Sox, and Giants are still in the mix for Castillo, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Meanwhile, the Cubs, Yankees, and Phillies are not expected to place high bids for him.
Earlier Updates
- Bidding is strong, and could well reach or even exceed the $55MM level, according to a tweet from Sahadev Sharma of Baseball Prospectus. The Cubs appear not to be interested at that level, he adds.
- The Braves are “not in the bidding right now” for Castillo, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Atlanta has been noted as a possible suitor in the past.
- Six clubs are seen as viable landing spots for Castillo at this time, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (echoing, in some cases, earlier reports): the Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cubs, Yankees, and Mariners. Castillo could sign a deal as soon as the end of the week, Heyman adds. We’ve heard conflicting reports on Philadelphia’s interest, in particular, and one executive tells Heyman that he believes the team could be attempting to downplay its interest while working to ink Castillo.
Come on Seattle get it DONE! Platoon with Saunders in RF, and a SS Backup to Taylor with sending Brad Miller back to AAA.
NO BRAINER without giving up any prospects!
I don’t see him signing to be a platoon partner or a back-up
Platooning in LF & RF, and backing up SS Seattle could keep him in the lineup 100% of the time if they wanted to.
Exactly. And I don’t see the Mariners giving a guy 55-60MM just to platoon him.
Seattle can keep him in the lineup nearly 100% of the time with platooning with Saunders & Ackley and ALSO backing up SS
I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t try to get him, I just think considering the teams after him and the fact that the price keeps going up, he has the bargaining ability to say he doesn’t want to be platooned. I certainly would in his position.
Sounds like Yanks, Philly’s, and Cubs are out. That leaves Sox, Tigers, and M’s.
Even at $8m/year that is a serious LOW RISK over 7 years. He’s 27, Top Speed, Great Defense, and even if he’s hitting 280/340/420 that would be a STEAL.
Castillo doesn’t negatively impact Defense or base running, in fact he improves in all categories to what Seattle has. And Seattle has one of the top 6 defenses in MLB in 2014, so that is saying a lot.
With playing decent SS he can be used at SS/2B “if” needed so we can send Brad Miller back down, and use Brad Miller as trade bait this offseason.
Castillo opens up many various doors for the Mariners in the future, all while solving our OF issue, and pushing Denorfia & Saunders to the bench. Our bench is one of the worse in MLB, so this move would contribute to improving Seattles bench down the stretch run.
A separate report indicates Yankees are out (“The Record” newspaper in Northern NJ). They cite the price tag considering the luxury tax hit.
Realistically, there look to be 5 teams in two categories:
“The Future”:
Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies
“The Present”:
Mariners, Tigers
If he can make it on the roster by the end of the month, Seattle or Detroit will overpay to get him. If neither get him, then both will be OK with it, because they are fighting with each other for the final playoff spot.
If he cannot get on the roster by the end of the month, then the other three will bid him up. I believe there is an upper limit to what the Red Sox would pay, so I think it will be Chicago or Philly.
That being stated, there is one wildcard…
It is possible the Tigers will overpay just to have him play in September (and not be on the playoff roster). I do not believe that Seattle is as desperate as the Tigers are right now.
Seattle is not as desperate as the Tigers? Agreed. But the added offense would be Seattle over the edge with that Pitching and Defense.
Castillo has Speed, Defense, Strong Gap Hitting… Any power would be Icing on the cake with his signing. Seattle has one of the top 6 defensive teams, thus their defense has assisted in the top #1 pitching staff in MLB too.
Seattle has a pretty weak bench, and a Castillo signing would push others to the bench to improve Seattle’s bench down the stretch.
Would Seattle be willing to pay $55MM+ for a guy who might not make the playoff roster? Tigers would, just to make the playoffs.
Jobs are on the line in Detroit. I do not think they are in Seattle.
With them owning the regional sports network, a major increase in ticket sales, and the pressure to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years I would say yeah, there is definitely a strong possibility they pony up the cash to sign Castillo
Agreed! It’s a no brainer for Seattle even “if” they have to go out $60m over 8 years ($7m/yr). These days $7m/yr is not a substantial risk at all.
You start talking $22M/year over 8 years for someone like Kemp and yeah that is a risk. Cano at $24m 10yr is a huge risk too, but we aren’t talking huge $240m contracts with Castillo here!!!
This is a make or break year for the mariners front office. Of course jobs are on the line.
I really hope the Cubs get him. $75 million for four years sounds like a must sign. I was never lucky enough to see Tarzan Joe Wallis. He was before my time back in the Pete LaCock era. Well here’s my chance. A Cuban Tarzan J.W.
Forgot to add, with Rusneymania, I could easily see the Cubs winning 70+ next year.
70+? they could make that without Castillo. I might be a little optimistic, but if Bryant and Soler come up to join Baez, Alcantara & co. and the Cubs sign a couple pitchers to slot in the upper portion of the rotation (Which I think they will) They could be targeting an 80 win season
With that lineup, and a Lester/Scherzer… more like a 90 win season…
Let’s include Sale, Rodon and Tanaka also. And that line up they will win 120 games.
You’re being sarcastic, but 90 wins with a rotation of Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks, Wood, and Straily. With a batting lineup of Coghlan, Soler, Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, Castro, Alcantara, Castillo, is not too far off.
what makes you believe lester would sign with the cubs when there’s no real sign of competing for a world series chamipionship? Theo didn’t draft him, dan duquette did if you’re using that. Better shot at Scherzer, he’s made it pretty clear that it’s a cash grab.
Of course the Braves aren’t. We never go for this type of player. Although, we should.
We like to stick with what we know and offer ridiculous contracts to players we KNOW are mediocre. It’d be silly to take a chance on a wildcard like Castillo.
And BJ Upton is happy that there’s one GM in baseball who thought he was worth what he’s making…
Bidding believed to be above $55MM now. (source: @sahadevsharma). Possibly 6 years (not positive). Looks like Tigers and Red Sox.
Isn’t that a family member of Castillo’s reporting that?
The source works for Baseball Prospectus. I doubt it.
Phillies, don’t sign this guy… Please.
Ray, do tell why you don’t like this guy? his height? his age?
Dave, too much money for one. And looking at the way some of the other Cuba’s have not lived up as advertised, you just gotta wonder, is it worth it.
Which Cubans have not lived up to as advertised? Seriously, curious on who you have in mind..
ozzie conseco
You mean Cespedes, Puig, Soler, and Abreu haven’t lived up to expectations? You can’t compare him to MAG, although that deal will still look good if he’s a setup man hitting 95-97 MPH
Not every Cuban is going to be Abreu, Cespedes, Puig or even Alexei Ramirez. Just because you throw a ton of money at a player does not make him a star. A $15 meal won’t taste better if you paid $55 for it.
I know for me its too much money or too little talent. In his case its both. Ray sounds like a smart man.
RAJ won’t. He’s too young.
Why can’t the Mariners or Tigers (or any other MLB contender) sign Castillo before August 31, and then hold an empty roster spot for him until he gets a Work Visa so he can be on the playoff roster?
Does not seem like that would violate any US law or MLB rule.
With September call ups, it really would not hurt the team.
Great question and I have not seen any sports writer explain how that would work and if it is legal. Surprised no one has looked into it since that would influence the bidding of teams looking to use him this season. Maybe this situation is uncharted waters for MLB.
A player must be on a teams roster prior to September to be eligible for the post season.
So you can sign him, place him on your 25 team roster, and he doesn’t even have to be legal to be in the States,( have a visa by Sept.1st) ?
If Castillo starts approaching Abreu money It will be a foolish contract
not if he hits like Abreu
That is exactly it…He was never considered to be have the upside of Abreu and Puig so what changed?
You must mean Bobby Abreu. If Castillo is worth $55 million, Sox got a steal getting Jose Abreu for under $200,000,000.
Is there anyone who actually thinks Abreu is overpaid?
If RAJ’s plan is to retool and not rebuild, he absolutely needs to win this auction for Castillo and the auction for Yasmani Tomas this winter.
I would say he really only needs one of them. If Byrd doesn’t get traded, you’ve got Byrd, Revere, [Cuban Defector], with Brown and Sizemore available as a platoon partners/backups.
If Byrd does get traded you’ve still got the Brown/Sizemore combo (not terrible, though not great either), and there are a few MiLB outfielders approaching readiness. Altherr’s in AA and could be a mid-season call-up next year (if he can find his bat in Reading, which he’s showed vague signs of, though nothing like in A+ and A), and Dugan’s looked amazing while being younger than all of his competition (I think he’s got a better chance to stick in LF mid-next year, should it be needed).
I like Altherr, probably more than most Phillies fans. Wish he got more of a chance when he was brought up temporarily earlier this season. He’s hit a slump the last few games, but from 5/24-8/13 he hit .267/.318/.462 over 70 games with 10 HR and 29 XBH. While not great, it’s also not awful and this team could use some not awful.
Not sure why Dugan is still in AA. It’s not as though they’ve got big time OF prospects blocking him in AAA. Not sure it’s worth it, but I’d promote both to AAA for the last 15 games. Get them 50-60 at-bats against fringe big league pitching.
I’d think Dugan’s still there because of his age. Even at 23, he’s almost 2 years younger than the league average.
Last I heard the Phillies were asking outrageous prices for their players. They need to lower their price.
Last I heard there wasn’t actually much official word on what the Phillies were asking. The rumor about Byrd was “2-3 good prospects,” not “top prospects,” not “top-100 guys,” just good. Which, given how well he’s been hitting, is probably fair value for him.
They’re asking the moon for Hamels, and I say good on ’em. There’s no reason to trade him unless you do bring in a haul, and there’ll always be times when a top-5 LHSP will get you more than he gets you now.
But Hamels ain’t Byrd.
the braves are never in on anyone
Sure they are, but when they sign an international free agent they are usually 16-18 years old, and Braves scouts already have had a long-standing relationship with them in their development. With Castillo coming from Cuba, he’s older than that and you don’t have scouts in Cuba with the kind of knowledge and history (many of which have personal relationships with their families) that really allows you to get to know the person/athlete. Castillo is going to demand a lot of money, especially with Cespedes/Puig setting the bar high, but that doesn’t mean that Castillo will be as good or better than them. Maybe he could be better. But, with as many teams in on him, I can see why ATL would be hesitant in getting involved.
Jeff Todd. Does an international player have to have a work visa before you can put them on your 40 man roster?
no, they just cant begin actual work.
Maybe a dumb question, but if he signs, say, a 6 year deal, do they get the rest of this year and then 6 more, or is it 6 including this one?
6 including this one.
I’ve seen Braves fans talking bad about Wren for signing for B.J. Upton, but look back at the options when they signed B.J… Josh Hamilton, Michael Bourn, or B.J. Upton. They all have their faults and have all struggled in their own ways. Given B.J. Upton’s age and track record, he still had an upside. I mean, it’s easy to look back and say it was awful or he made a bad signing, but when you look at the other names… It just seems like a bad free agent class. Also, Nick Swisher was available that off-season and he’s not exactly killing it. So, it was a bad signing in a group of bad signings. The Braves keep bringing up young talent to help offset the bad deals of B.J. Upton and even Dan Uggla, but let’s not give Wren and the front office credit for that… Let’s just focus on the B.J. Upton contract and bash everyone.
Braves are out. All our resources went to the amazing BJ!!!
Nope. His salary won’t affect international spending. They’re out because they’re smart and not going to get into a bidding war for a free agent they know little about, while having dollars thrown in his face by teams that can afford to do so whether he’s worth it or not.
Castillo will sign with the Cubs.