4:55pm: Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that Castillo and Minor will indeed both start the year on the IL.
9:44am: Reds right-hander Luis Castillo is “expected” to begin the season on the injured list after being slowed by some shoulder soreness early in camp, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Meanwhile, manager David Bell told reporters yesterday that Castillo is “quite a bit ahead” of newly acquired left-hander Mike Minor, who is battling shoulder troubles of his own. Bell said the team is set to meet with some of its ailing players today to establish a more concrete rehab plan for each.
News of Castillo’s barking shoulder first surfaced earlier in camp, and it’s worth emphasizing that the team believes he’s healthy now. However, Castillo has been behind schedule in an already truncated Spring Training and has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game. Opening Day is less than two weeks away at this point, and it seems the 29-year-old righty simply won’t have time to sufficiently build up to readiness for the early portion of the season. Placing Castillo on the injured list would set him up to miss multiple turns through the rotation, but he could still be back in the fold for the Reds by mid-to-late April.
The likelihood of a Castillo trade had already plummeted in recent weeks, with general manager Nick Krall publicly stating he didn’t expect to trade Castillo or right-hander Tyler Mahle (who has since been named the team’s Opening Day starter). Now, with some shoulder issues on top of the Reds’ public disinclination toward trading him, it seems all but certain that Castillo remain a Red for at least the early portion of the season. Should the team struggle, of course, his name will be featured prominently in summer trade rumblings once again.
As for Minor, it’s not yet clear just how much time he’ll be expected to miss. Bell suggested that Minor is dealing with soreness that the team does not believe to be overly concerning, but added that the veteran lefty’s shoulder is going to “take some more time.”
Acquired in a surprising swap that sent reliever Amir Garrett to the Royals and saw the Reds take on about $7MM in salary — the first time this winter that Cincinnati had added, rather than subtracted, from the payroll — Minor joined his new club in hopes of rebounding from a rough 2020-21 showing.
The 34-year-old Minor has posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the past two seasons, working to a combined 5.18 ERA in 215 1/3 innings between the Rangers, A’s and Royals in that time. Minor still notched solid strikeout and walk rates during that time, but home runs have become increasingly problematic for him. Considering he’ll move from the spacious Kauffman Stadium to the homer-happy Great American Ball Park, that’s not an encouraging trend, but the Reds clearly have some confidence they’ll be able to help curtail the issue.
With Castillo and Minor both sidelined for some time to begin the year, the Reds’ Opening Day rotation is going to feature quite a few untested arms. Mahle will take the ball on Opening Day and likely be followed by 26-year-old Vladimir Gutierrez, who held his own with a 4.74 ERA in 114 innings/22 starts as a rookie last season. Options already on the 40-man would include Tony Santillan, Reiver Sanmartin and Riley O’Brien. The Reds have several non-roster veterans and journeymen in camp, including Zack Godley, Ben Lively, Brandon Bailey and Connor Overton. Prospects like Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Brandon Williamson and Graham Ashcraft could all get a look, too. Right-hander Justin Dunn, acquired in the Jesse Winker trade, is expected to miss “months” with a shoulder injury that Reds knew about at the time of the trade.
Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote over the weekend that Greene, in particular, appears to have a shot at breaking camp in the Reds’ rotation, though no final decisions have been made just yet. Greene showed well in his first start of the spring though and has already drawn praise from Bell, who noted that the former No. 2 pick has “settled in” and impressed the club while “pitching with confidence” thus far.
Lets Go DBacks
Would be interesting to know if the apparent injury of Castillo now means they will trade away one of their catchers and then acquire a new 3B only to swap an outfielder for a new closer, because with the Reds you just don’t know what they are trying to do.
WHeitzman
They will probably trade Castillo to get someone to take Minors contract off the books
JoeBrady
Of course, that assumes that the new closer they acquire is injured, and that they ‘knew about the injury” when they made the trade.
I always look forward to seeing what types of moves the Reds, the Rockies, and the Padres make, but this is starting to get a little sad,
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
Minor is a major relieve for a major league team who wants a major league pitcher to pitch better in the majors than in the minors
Who’s on first?
I don’t know, he’s in the minors
Bobcastelliniscat
They knew about the injury and made the trade anyway. Now Bob Castelinni gave an interview to the Reds Announcer stating “this isn’t about money” “you’re reading me all wrong”
HBan22
Don’t forget the Twins. They’ve been all over the place for the past year.
JoeBrady
“Greene, in particular, appears to have a shot at breaking camp in the Reds’ rotation,”
=========================
If that happens, then Manfred needs to have the league take over the Reds’ FO.
RedLegJason
The only thing Manfred needs to do is resign.
brucenewton
Greene should be given more development time. Bright future.
JoeBrady
Yup. Even without the service time issue:
1-Only 22. And only 65 innings in AAA.
2-Had major surgery and should be innings-restricted.
3-Still had a 3.4 BB9 in AAA.
Let the guys spend a couple of months in AAA until he dominates his way up to the Reds. I can’t see any reason to promote him, other than publicity.
RunDMC
All valid points, but IF he looks great in ST, why wouldn’t you have him break camp with the team to inspire some confidence in him and the team, also buying time for 3 guys (Castillo, Justin Dunn, Mike Minor; not to mention Barrero (hamate injury)) former three battling shoulder soreness that would have rotation spots, to ease back?
When a couple are ready, send Greene back to AAA if he needs to work on things…or leave him up, if he dominates. If you’re really worried about starting his clock early, sending him back could help with that. However, I don’t think a top prospect, especially with his mound presence, is going to take anything negative about a cup of coffee to build off of to become a staple for years to come. If anything, that taste could make him hungrier.
Very odd to see someone championing Manfred to take control of a team that would roster a top prospect IF they earn the spot out of ST — and said team is down a few starters.
flamingbagofpoop
Because ST competition =/= MLB competition and if he gets lit up, that might not help the confidence. Same basic reason you don’t rush any prospects up to MLB based on how they look in ST.
Regarding service time and sending him to Triple A after being in MLB, if you have him on an innings limit and you bounce him back to triple A before limiting him/shutting him down, just think about how many people on here are going to be screaming about filling a grievance; it might not be a great move from a PR point for a front office that’s already under fire.
DocBB
Krall and Castellini are morons
baseballguy_128
#FireKrall
metsie1
Sad what is happening in Cincinnati. This is a team that needs a new Owner. Until that happens well, the fans will be the victims of this dreck.
THE downvoter
If Metsie is a Mets fan, the irony is laughable.
1)…the Mets, one of the most mismanaged sports organizations in the modern era…
2)a large market fan who zero clue or zero patience for small market realities.
You have no idea what really is involved. Just go back to writing checks.
WHeitzman
The Reds are still a dumpster fire, who have been rebuilding since 2013. Obviously being a small market team they have financial constraints, but the front office has repeatedly made poor trades or held onto the best trade chips when they clearly had zero intention of competing. Then when they actually spend money in free agency they overpay for positions they don’t need
THE downvoter
Hey everybody, we have Super GM WHeitzman. Baffling why he isnt running a team or at least interviewing. All this hindsight knowledge going to waste…
WHeitzman
Do childish insult attempts make you feel better about yourself? You should take all of your superior intelligence and attempt to make an informed argument
THE downvoter
…says the one who is a retrospective expert and apparently can do a better job than people who are paid to do this for a living. Got it.
flamingbagofpoop
It doesn’t require hindsight to question many of those FA signings. Go back to the comment sections for the posts on this site, you’ll see quite a few people that were confused why they were signing who they were signing.
hiflew
Yeah…dig up Marge Schott. She was much better LOL
lettaj
sad part is they’re paying Minor the same they would’ve been paying Miley who they let go nothing for nothing to see him sign with the Cubs.
DarkSide830
and they would still have Amir too
joeshmoe11
Amir is mediocre at best and Minor is projected to have a slightly better season than Miley if you average the 6 projections they have listed on FanGraphs, 1.92 vs 1.51 WAR (Amir’s average projection is 0.2). Now they could have easily traded Wade after picking up his option and received something of value instead of just letting him go but Wade and Amir are likely to be as valuable combined as Minor is alone
DarkSide830
Minor at this point though is clearly declining. I would say Miley alone is more valuable, and even one disinclined to think Amir would be a useful BP arm could still argue he’d have enough value around the league to merit some variety of a return. They essentially dealt Miley and Amir for Minor when they could have dealt one, kept the other, and gotten more value out in the end.
joeshmoe11
I’m only stating that most every projection system has Minor as slightly more valuable. Amir has a career 0.0 fWAR so let’s not pretend he’s any loss. He walks too many and gives up too many bombs
Lloyd Emerson
Do those precious projection systems tell you how much a player is worth when he’s on the injured list?
Cap & Crunch
Citing WAR for a Rp…Yikes
Cincy didn’t need Amir’s attitude in the pen, glad they traded him but for this bad Minor money is a btt baffling I must admit
HalosHeavenJJ
Merely being linked to the Angels as a trade chip caused Castillo to get injured.
For real I feel bad for Reds fans. They deserve better from ownership. If Milwaukee can compete for the division title consistently then so can the Reds.
THE downvoter
If Brewers can compete for a division title, then Angels should be able to be the better LA team. I feel bad for Angel fans. They deserve better ownership.
HalosHeavenJJ
I won’t argue there. One LA team invests heavily in player development and the Angels don’t. The differences between the two on the field really come down to that.
If a team in a similar or same sized market can succeed, so can other ones.
JoeBrady
I think the Downvoter has you on this. Since 2009, the Angels have made the playoffs once, with -0- wins. The Reds have made the playoffs 4x since then. and actually won 2 games over that period. As you said:
“If Milwaukee can compete for the division title consistently then so can the Angels”.
HalosHeavenJJ
Yep. Arte Moreno has gotten in his own way for a long time. The Angels, given the resources available, should have gotten better results.
At least his mistakes come from buying the wrong players. They are misguided attempts to win.
Who else
Bob has made the reds a AAA team again. Trades made to reduce payroll with no care of winning. How sad it is, The no clue reds are back.
Reds1990
Johnny Cueto would be a nice addition to the rotation. Love watching him shimmy on the mound.
Armaments216
I’m surprised no team has signed Cueto yet. He could fill out the rotation for any number of teams.
hiflew
I bet you could form a team from a 28 man roster from remaining free agent that would be superior to both Oakland and Cincinnati this year. Especially if you were willing to punt a 2nd round pick to sign Conforto.
Maybe not in the future, but I guarantee these teams could field at least SOMEWHAT competitive teams and not turn their big league squads into glorified AAA teams. Field the teams of 30+ year old players, trade the ones worth anything at the deadline and THEN bring up the young guys. At least it shows your fanbase that they are wasting a year watching a team.
hiflew
OK I had a little time to kill and just decided to build a team from remaining free agents. I excluded players that have retired, so no Andrew Miller, Kyle Seager, Ian Desmond, among others.
C – Wilson Ramos
1B – Mitch Moreland
2B – Asdrubal Cabrera
3B – Matt Duffy
SS – Freddy Galvis
LF – Dexter Fowler
CF – Jake Marisnick
RF – Michael Conforto
DH – Khris Davis
Backup C – Willians Astudillo
MI – Jordy Mercer
CI – Renato Nunez
OF – Mike Tauchman
UT – Danny Santana
Rotation
Cole Hamels
Matt Harvey
Chris Archer
Kwang-hyun Kim
Julio Teheran
Long men/spot starters
Jose Urena
Trevor Cahill
Closer
Trevor Rosenthal
Set up
Dellin Betances
Righties
Yusmeiro Petit
Tommy Hunter
Richard Rodriguez
Lefties
Tony Watson
Sam Howard
I think that team could be better than Oakland and Cincy as currently constructed. You are making the playoffs with this team, but it could be competitive and you wouldn’t be tied down long term to ANY of them except Conforto. You could replenish a farm system with a LOT of lotto tickets in July.
Better than what Oakland and Cincy and Pittsburgh and others are trotting out on the field THIS season.
Cap & Crunch
Nice project, cool post to read
Still think Cincy and the A’s are a lot better than that team. That teams pretty awful with arms
miggywrld
Jake Marisnick is with Texas on a minor league deal. Matt Duffy is with the Angels on a major league deal.
Astudillo is with Miami on a minor league deal.
Chris Archer just signed with the Twins.
hiflew
When I did it, MLB had them all listed as FAs. But You could replace Marisnick with Jarrod Dyson, Duffy with Todd Frazier, and Astudillo with maybe Drew Butera or Jeff Mathis and Archer with Scott Kazmir and not really lose all that much.
hiflew
Cincy maybe, but I don’t think so with Oakland. Especially as soon as Manaea and Montas are dealt.
Either way, at the very least you have enough name recognition to sell tickets as opposed to some prospects that MIGHT have a better future, but are not going to move the needle now.
Yankee Clipper
The mere fact Cincy isn’t restocking their farm / MLB with Castillo & Mahle sell-offs confuses me too. SPs always bring back good returns & Cincy is only creating their own devaluation by keeping them. Moreover, if Castillo’s injury persists, or gets worse, as the season goes along they’ve lost his trade value for the immediate future.
Very confusing times indeed.
HBan22
If the Reds hadn’t absolutely butchered their entire roster over the past year or two, and were willing to spend some money, they could be a very exciting team right now. They have a lot of young talent both MLB-ready and in the lower minors, and they had a very solid core before they blew it all up. Unfortunate.
flamingbagofpoop
They really didn’t though…that’s why spending the way they did, when they did, didn’t make a ton of sense.
HBan22
If they still had Winker and Castellanos, their offense would be looking really good for this coming season. If they hadn’t given away Gray and Miley for nothing, their rotation would be looking quite solid right now. If they hadn’t given away Raisel Iglesias and numerous other good relievers over the past couple years, their bullpen would be looking pretty good right now too. And their farm system is looking quite solid these days. If they had truly committed to trying to win, they could have a solid team right now in addition to a bright future.
DMC511
Goldey is already on the 40 man, and O’Brien was optioned Sunday. Godley probably breaks camp with the Reds
yanks2323
The cost for Manea and Montas just went up!
baseballguy_128
#Selltheteambob #bobshouldsell