The Padres have designated left-hander Jose Castillo for assignment and optioned righty Matt Waldron to Triple-A El Paso, per a team announcement. That pair of moves clears roster space for righty Robert Suarez, who has been formally reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
Castillo, 27, posted a strong 3.23 ERA through his first 39 big league innings back in 2018-19 but has since seen that promising debut derailed by injury. His 2019 season was cut short by a torn ligament in his hand, and he missed the 2020 season due to a lat strain. Castillo’s 2021 campaign and much of his 2022 season were then wiped out by Tommy John surgery. He’s pitched just two total MLB frames dating back to 2019.
While Castillo posted solid numbers in the upper minors last year as he returned from that deluge of injuries, he’s struggled immensely in 2023. His lone MLB appearance saw him yield four runs in one-third of an inning, and he’s been tagged for a 9.82 ERA in 18 1/3 frames of Triple-A ball.
Castillo is in his final option season and will be arbitration-eligible this winter. The Padres will have a week to trade him, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. If another team picks him up, he can be optioned for the remainder of the season but would need to be carried on the active MLB roster beginning next season. That said, if he can get back on track with a new club, he’d have an additional two seasons of club control remaining.
Suarez, 32, fanned 32% of his opponents and notched a 2.27 ERA as a 31-year-old rookie in San Diego last season after a years-long run of excellence in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The Friars re-signed to a five-year, $46MM deal with an opt-out clause early last offseason, but he’s yet to pitch this season due to an elbow issue. He’ll give San Diego a high-quality arm to slot into the late innings as the Padres try to salvage an immensely disappointing start to their 2023 season.
A much needed arm, let’s hope he can step in and help solidify the bullpen…
Castillo to A’s ASAP. Plenty of time there to regain his previous form as an Athletic.
To bad about Luis, Was very good early in has career. Some pitchures are NOT Athletic but have Great Arms. It will catch up to them
I believe Kim is under contract for 7mil next year, and has a club option 2025 for 10mil. I see no need to do anything but let him play for now. Somebody tell me if he still qualifies for 6 years of control via arbitration.
Kim is not controlled for 6 years; he is a FA after this contract.
They should have signed Kim long term, not Cronenworth (who has become Dave Campbell, great guy, can’t hit)
I’m of the belief that Cronie will rebound well. Some guys just have tough years every now & then. It happens. Cheers Brew =)
Chuck Norris wears Jake Cronenworth pajamas to bed.
I lol’ed Harambe! Cheers amigo
HSK has a mutual option for 2025. Mutual options are declined close to 100% of the time. And no, he does not qualify for arbitration. Anyone who says he does is lying to you.
We’re not gonna trade Snell, Martinez or Soto. We need ‘em if we’re going to get a grip on this season and make a run. We just need it all to come together at the same time. Enough season left to get it done
You’re not getting Juan Soto or anyone like him for $25-30m elsewhere.
we are not make the play off this year, so SELL,SELL,SELL,,,AND FIRE PRELLER.
Just curious… why fire Preller? At the very least, he keeps our farm stacked better than 90% of other GMs. Sure, he built this underperforming team… but is that really his fault? Big Pete signed off on the additions, so should he sell the team?!? I’m not comprehending the “fire AJ” talk.
The deeper the hole gets for the Pads, the more I want the roster, managers, owner, and AJ, to stay the course and stay intact. I don’t see lack of effort from anyone, and Seidler is wonderful in how he holds nothing back in his passion and generosity to win for the city. The dude abides, what a lucky bunch of San Diegans we are. Preller goes for it, sometimes at high risk, but often with creativity that can only come from a guy trying to serve the wishes of Seidler.
I don’t think Carpenter and some relievers are long for the team and it’ll be sad to see Snell go next year – like the feeling when we lost Donny, Donny who loved surfing. But hopefully he’ll come back perhaps as a color commentator for the Pads after he retires….
I’ve seen a lot of flukey funky baseball in my life and have never seen anything like these 2023 Padres. It’s a team that could win the WS not just with the talent but the roster is packed with ballers who give 100%. Tatis, Kim, Musgrove, Crone. Yet they’ve been in the twilight zone, I don’t even try to explain it or listen to others who try. But maybe the best explanation is that other teams are also good, and it doesn’t take much to lose.in MLB.
So if not 2023, then in the words of Inigo Montoya, the Sports Curse that has fallen upon San Diego for greater than a have century… “prepare to die”. 2024
No reason we can’t trade Snell… and re-sign him! Just one fan’s wish, let me dream darn it! >.<
Gwyn you are right but really with Snell being a little bit of a head case, trading him might trigger something that would prevent that.
Until 10 starts ago, I was in the no way camp. Ok, 10 starts later with 4 er and he can stay for 23 but I don’t think I want 4-5 more years of “which Blake do we get tonight.”
He nibbles and walks 7 and runs up pitch count or
He attacks strike zone and goes 7 with 12 SO’s.
His head is his worst enemy and I think he would agree with that.
You’re batting 1.000 today, LT! It’s seemingly just me… but I think Snell gets better the next couple 2, 3 (+?) years. I could be completely wrong, just a gut call brah!
There is no evidence that players hold being traded again their former teams when they become free agents.
And I’m not sure I want Snell back. How sustainable really is his 2023 performance?
Harry – it’s great to defend your position by stating something doesn’t exist. Of course no player or agent is going to publicize such a feeling of resentment. How about this: is there ever any discussion of how a player feels when they play against a team that traded them? Of course there is and it’s clear that the players want to show up the old team.
These players are not machines. They have egos out of this world. To suggest, just because there isn’t a record kept of it, that it can’t be true is preposterous.
How about this: give me a list of all players that re signed with their former teams in FA after they were sent packing at the trade deadline.
@Longtimecoming Bruh I can name 10 players who signed with teams that traded them away for every 1 player you can name that refused to sign with a team specifically BECAUSE they traded him away!
@Longtimecoming And no. Just because a player didn’t sign with a team that traded him doesn’t exactly mean him not signing was specifically BECAUSE they traded him. Take for example, Andrew Cashner. As far as I know, the Padres never made a single effort to bring him back. He can’t sign with them if they don’t offer him a contract.
So I wait for you to name players that refused sign with a team BECAUSE they were traded. This site has a notification bell now, so I know you saw my comment.
You said there was no evidence to support what I said.
Ok – it’s on you to provide evidence to support that what I said is wrong.
Can you supply any evidence that what I said isn’t correct?
Not how it works.
Still waiting for you to name those players who refused to sign with a former team specifically BECAUSE they traded them.
Still waiting for your evidence to show that what I said was incorrect.
You can’t just say it and it be true – show it. You started this challenge.
I’m not proving your negative.
Ok – every player in MLB history that was traded and then didn’t resign – there. I proved it.
Actually you started it when you said that trading Snell would “trigger something that would prevent that” (him signing with the Padres) and then demanded me to name all of the players that signed with a team that just traded them as if that proves anything. It doesn’t matter how often it does or doesn’t happen if you’re not going to delve any deeper as to why.
Nope because there is not a shred of evidence to even suggest (let alone prove) that a single one of those players would have stayed with their original teams HAD they not been traded, all other things equal.
When you try to prove your point by misquoting me well, that just is a problem.
Re-read what I ACTUALLY SAID – “might” not would.
See you mis quoted me and then jumped on proof of something that I NEVER SAID!
And again, I never said they “would” have stayed if not traded. You are in an alternate universe.
Still no reason to believe that trading Snell even “might” make it harder to sign him.
You actually did. I asked you to name the players who refused to sign with a former team specifically BECAUSE they traded them. And you replied to that with, and I quote, “every player in MLB history that was traded and then didn’t resign.”
I can’t even think of one player that refused to sign with their original team specifically BECAUSE they were traded. Can you?
Yeah I can’t see you any more Harry
Muting people doesn’t prove your point and in fact is often done because you realize you were wrong all along but aren’t man enough to just admit it.
@Gwynning LTC appears to have hit me with the mute. So keep carrying that flag. Keep the pressure on until he admits that trading Snell (or anyone else) won’t close him off to the mere idea of signing with the Padres.
I remember one season Castillo pitched to like 1 batter. I was at the game. We were really excited to see him come back and before we could stop clapping he was out for the rest of the season.
If Preller cared about “creating financial wiggle room and complimenting (sic) their expensive contracts” Soto wouldn’t have been traded for at all. Trading Soto would show indecisiveness and an inability to commit to a long-term plan. It would also mean the Padres paid more than 50% of the freight for someone else to acquire him for no gain of their own.
Anyway, it’s clear to me that you wouldn’t have traded for Soto in the first place. And that’s fine, I don’t necessarily disagree. But you are not the GM, AJ Preller is. If he thought Soto was worth more than Abrams et al he’s not going to turn around and decide he’s worth less than half of that a year later when Soto JUST made the ASG.
There you go again trying to win the off-season instead of focusing on July 20, 2023 and the surge to the playoffs!
Picked up 2 games in 2 days on WC and 2 teams ahead of us are falling fast.
Seriously, a 9-1 streak could pu the padres in WC.
Ok, they have to go 9-1 but that won’t happen without Snell, Hader, Lugo and Soto.
Just when we imagine a streak of wins that brings some hope to 2023, they go and drop another RISP stinker like today.
For financial wiggle room, the best way they could do it is send cases of Jack Daniels and three wheel ATVs as Christmas presents to Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth.
Now, I suggested this solution for Eric Hosmer and the Padres did not take it! I was horribly disappointed. Although, it must also be said, Fernando Ringworm Jr. tried to emulate my suggestion, successfully.
I think there are some deep psychological problems in the Padres front office. Peter Seidler and AJ Preller both have some issues, they collected some names, they did not build a team.
Crikes – “there are deep psychological problems….”
Ok, you are either a psychologists which would allow you to diagnosis the FO or a patient of a psychologist with deep psychological problems and you are in the ‘have to be one to know one’ category.
Let us know which.
-throwing up my hand, begging the teacher to call on me because I’m *pretty sure* I know the answer…
Padres expected to DFA Luis Garcia and select the contract of Jackson Wolf (LHP, 4th round, 2021) tomorrow.
Thanks for the scoop. Garcia just ran out of chances. Wolf is an interesting promotion, his BB/9is way down this yr