Though Craig, 34, hasn’t been in the Major Leagues since 2015 with the Red Sox, he’d yet to hang up the spikes. He was in camp with the Padres on a minor league deal this spring and appeared in six games, and he spent the past three seasons with the Triple-A affiliates for Boston (2016-17) and San Diego (2018).

Craig’s peak in the Majors was brief but impactful. His 2010 rookie season didn’t stand out in any way, but he burst onto the scene in 2011 when he raked at a .315/.362/.555 clip and belted 26 extra-base hits (11 homers, 15 doubles) in just 219 plate appearances. Craig played a key role in the Cardinals’ postseason exploits that season as well and was rewarded with a World Series ring. He’d follow up that strong year with a highly productive .307/.354/.522 slash and 22 homers over an even larger sample of work (514 plate appearances) in 2012.

That sample was enough for the Cards to invest in Craig on a five-year extension back in Spring Training 2013. He made the move look like a bargain with another strong year in 2013, hitting .315/.373/.457 and landing his first (and only) All-Star nod.

Following that three-year peak in which he batted a combined .312/.364/.500 (136 OPS+), however, Craig’s bat completely evaporated. After suffering a Lisfranc injury late in 2013, he slumped through a woeful first half of the season in 2014 and found himself traded to the Red Sox alongside Joe Kelly in the deal that sent John Lackey to St. Louis.

Hitting .215/.279/.315 at the time of the trade, Craig saw his troubles grow even more pronounced with his new team. In 195 plate appearances with Boston from 2014-15, he mustered just a .139/.236/.197 line before being designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster. He’d finish out his extension in Triple-A before landing with the Padres in the 2017-18 offseason.

It’s not fully clear what Craig has in mind for the next phase of his career. As an advisor to the baseball ops department he could follow the path recently taken by former Rays right-hander Brandon Gomes, who is now an assistant general manager with the Dodgers. That’s but one of many roads to explore in retirement, though; current Astros manager A.J. Hinch worked in the San Diego front office, for instance, providing another potential blueprint for Craig’s post-playing days.

Whatever “The Wrench” has in store for him, he’ll embark on that journey with a career .276/.333/.435 batting line, 59 home runs, 107 doubles, three triples, 239 runs scored and 296 runs knocked in over the course of 534 big league games. Brief as his career was, he earned about $32MM as a player, made an All-Star team and captured a World Series ring — a successful slate of accomplishments if there ever was one. Best wishes to him in the next chapter of his baseball career.

• The Phillies have a host of new additions to the team’s list of MLB Spring Training participants. In addition to a few we’ve already featured here at MLBTR, the Philadelphia club has announced the signings of southpaw Jeremy Bleich, backstop Rob Brantly, righty Josh Martin, utilityman Matt McBride, and infielder Gregorio Petit. Every one of these players has seen MLB time except for Martin, who’ll be looking for his first crack at the bigs after compiling a seven-season minor-league stat line with the Indians organization that features a 3.33 ERA and 9.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
• Likewise, the Padres have announced a haul of camp competitors. Allen Craig will come back for another go, as will Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, southpaws Ryan Bollinger and Dietrich Enns have inked with the San Diego org, along with righty Tyler Higgins. On the position-player side, infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Aderlin Rodriguez are joined by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo. It’s the opposite situation from the one just discussed above, as all of the new additions excepting Enns — who’s compiled two MLB appearances — have yet to crack the majors.
• A handful of new free agents are heading to the Rangers, too, per a club announcement. Lefty Jack Leathersich has seen action in a pair of MLB campaigns, but won’t get a camp invite. Fellow southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, righties, Ariel Hernandez and Phillips Valdez, and infielder Nolan Fontana will open their tenure in Texas on the MLB side of Spring Training. Hernandez and Fontana each have minimal experience in the bigs. Valdez worked to a 2.73 ERA in 135 upper-minors innings with the Nationals organization last year, with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9; Del Pozo has averaged ten strikeouts per nine in his minor-league career.
• The Red Sox have added another hurler on a minor-league pact, this time picking up righty Ryan Weber, per Michael Mayer of Metsmerizedonline.com (via Twitter). Now 28 years of age, Weber has thrown 73 2/3 innings of 5.01 ERA ball over the past four years, though the vast majority of those came in 2015 and 2016. He was rather effective last year at Triple-A in a swingman capacity, spinning 115 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.

Craig, 33, will be looking to get his career back on track after a disastrous tenure with the Red Sox. That three-and-a-half-year run mercifully ended when Craig was released over the summer. He had not joined another organization in the interim.

At the start of the 2014 season, Craig was a star with the Cardinals, carrying a .850 OPS through three full MLB campaigns. Since that time, he has appeared in just 162 games, struggling both before and after the mid-2014 trade that sent him to Boston and posting a cumulative .573 OPS.

Craig has not seen the majors since 2015. He has also been limited at times by injury. But his struggles have generally continued in the upper minors. Last year, at Triple-A, he managed only a .253/.352/.316 slash through 182 plate appearances before he was cut loose.

Certainly, expectations will not be high in San Diego, but perhaps a new environment will give Craig some chance at finding his form. His contract is no longer a factor; the Sox are paying him a $1MM buyout on the 2018 option that was included in the deal that he originally signed with the Cards.

Craig, 32, will hit the open market after an ill-fated stint in the Sox organization. He was acquired back in 2014 along with righty Joe Kelly in the surprising trade that sent John Lackey to the Cardinals.

At the time, Craig was viewed as a possible bounce-back piece. Though he was carrying only a .237/.291/.346 batting line at the time of the deal, Boston obviously saw upside in the remainder of Craig’s contract extension. After all, prior to 2014, he owns an excellent career .306/.358/.492 batting line.

Unfortunately, the rebound never occurred. Craig only appeared in 65 MLB games with the Red Sox, posting a .432 OPS. And he has never shown much life while banished to Triple-A. Though Craig continues to reach base at a solid clip, he has hit just one home run and carries a .316 slugging percentage this year at Pawtucket.

Boston has long since written off his salary as an investment that won’t deliver any return, but it’s still a notable sum. Craig will still be entitled to the remainder of his $11MM guarantee this year, and will also take home a $1MM buyout on a $13MM option for 2018.

• Ervin Santana of the Twins could soon become a sought-after trade target due to his talent, experience and affordability, one AL scout opines. Santana makes just $13.5MM this season and next, with a $14MM option that can vest under certain conditions. Jose Quintana attracted plenty of attention over the offseason, but Santana should emerge as a big name too if the Twins make him available — which they haven’t yet, according to Cafardo.
• Slugger Ryan Howard would like to continue playing, but has not yet received any opportunities, Cafardo writes. Howard did, of course, struggle through most of the past several seasons in Philadelphia, and he batted just .196 last year. He did hit 25 home runs in 362 plate appearances and bat .262/.324/.608 in the second half. It appears there aren’t any teams out there swayed by those numbers, however.
• Thanks to Allen Craig ($11MM) and Rusney Castillo ($10.5MM), the Red Sox’ affiliate in Pawtucket will have the largest Triple-A payroll ever. Neither are on the 40-man roster. Craig played sparingly for Pawtucket last year and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2015; he’s in what should be the last year of the $31MM contract he signed with St. Louis prior to the 2013 campaign. The Red Sox will almost certainly pay him a $1M buyout on his 2018 option once the season is over. Castillo was outrighted last season and is still owed $46MM through 2020.
• Nationals manager Dusty Baker, whose two-year contract with the club expires after the 2017 season, says he would like to continue managing beyond that. (As of last week, there weren’t any pending extension talks between Baker and the Nats.) On an unrelated note, Baker also shares his take on whether a manager can tell whether his team will be good or bad at this point in the season. “There are too many variables like injuries and different things that happen in players’ lives,” he says. “One thing though, you know when you have a bad team. When you leave spring training you know when you have a bad team and you know when you have a good team. Just hard to predict how good sometimes.”
• Former star closer Jonathan Papelbon still hasn’t decided whether he’s going to keep playing, Cafardo writes. Papelbon didn’t sign this winter while dealing with a family matter.

More from the East Coast:

• Likely to go without injured shortstop Didi Gregorius for the first month of the season, the Yankees are scouring the trade market for help, according to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. Ideally, the Yankees would like to acquire an inexpensive player who’s on an expiring contract and has minor league options remaining. New York is reportedly eyeing the Diamondbacks’ Nick Ahmed, who checks two of those boxes (he’s cheap and comes with options), while the club’s uninterested in pricier shortstops in the Reds’ Zack Cozart and the Tigers’ Jose Iglesias. If no trade materializes, the Yankees will choose an Opening Day shortstop from an in-house group consisting of Ronald Torreyes, Pete Kozma, Tyler Wade, Ruben Tejada and Starlin Castro.
• Considering they’re not on the Red Sox’s 40-man roster, outfielder Rusney Castillo and first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig are already facing uphill battles to achieve relevance in Boston. Moreover, their onerous contracts make even short promotions to the majors unlikely, notes WEEI’s John Tomase (via colleague Rob Bradford).  Castillo, for instance, would cost the Red Sox $56,596 per day to keep on their 25-man roster. Thus, a two-week stint with the Sox would cost $800K and push them over the luxury-tax threshold, which they’ve been careful to stay under. Castillo and Craig have upped their stock this spring, writes Bradford, but the team unsurprisingly sent the pair back to Triple-A on Sunday. They’ll combine to make $21.5MM in the minors this season.
• Nationals reliever Koda Glover is reportedly likely to win their closer job, which is the role he has wanted since the team selected him in the eighth round of the 2015 draft, details Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The first time Glover reported to the Nationals, they had him fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked, “Are you a starter or reliever?” Glover wrote, “I’m a closer,” which has “reverberated through the organization ever since,” per Janes.

• Chris Sale had some harsh words for executive VP Kenny Williams in the wake of the Adam LaRoche controversy, though this hasn’t had any impact on Sale’s future with the team, a White Sox official tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  There is “no chance” Sale would be traded, the official said: “There was no chance in the offseason and no chance now. We’re building our team around Chris Sale.”
• Just in case the relationship between Sale and the White Sox has indeed gone south, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe opines that the Red Sox should make a trade inquiry.  Abraham admits that Sale and and the Pale Hose “will probably make peace,” though this piece gives an idea of the gigantic price Chicago would demand for its ace.  Abraham suggests Boston could offer a trade package that includes Allen Craig and $18MM of his salary, plus young righty Anderson Espinoza and three other top-tier prospects.  In my opinion, I think even this impressive offer wouldn’t be enough to land a valuable asset like Sale, who is prized for not just his ability but also his contract — $21.15MM through 2017 and then club options for 2018 and 2019 worth a respective $12.5MM and $13.5MM.
• While Craig may not be part of a blockbuster Red Sox trade package, Cafardo also suggests the first baseman could be a fit for the White Sox with LaRoche gone.  Chicago seems ready to fill LaRoche’s DH spot with Melky Cabrera and Avisail Garcia, though since Boston would inevitably be footing almost all of the $21MM remaining on Craig’s contract, it might not be a bad flier to take (especially since Cabrera and Garcia are coming off poor seasons).  Craig is trying to revive his career after two rough seasons that dropped his stock to the point that he was outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster last year.
• In other first base trade speculation, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wonders if James Loney could be a fit for the White Sox.  The Rays have been unsuccessfully shopping Loney all winter and are reportedly willing to cover some of the $8MM Loney is owed in 2016.  Like LaRoche, Loney is also a left-handed hitter, perhaps making him a more ideal complement to the right-handed Garcia and Jose Abreu.
• LaRoche’s dispute with the White Sox about his son’s presence in the clubhouse has drawn a lot of response from around baseball, with ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) collecting some reaction from unnamed officials and front office personnel.  Most observes were surprised by the unusual nature of LaRoche’s demand that his son be a constant presence with the club and the seeming lack of communication between Kenny Williams, Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura about the situation.
• “Honestly, I don’t think I was talking about the Red Sox,” David Price told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about his early comments about his ideal new team.  Price was focused on joining a team with a pipeline of young talent, and was initially thinking about the Cardinals and Cubs rather than the Red Sox since he “wasn’t as familiar” with Boston’s farm system.  The Cards and Cubs ended up being the next two highest bidders for Price’s services this winter, though their offers reportedly fell well short of the seven-year, $217MM contract Price signed with Boston since the Red Sox were intent on landing the ace.
• One final note from Cafardo’s column: he notes that Red Sox infield prospect Marco Hernandez could be a trade target for other clubs in the wake of Hernandez’s strong Spring Training performance.  Hernandez, ranked as the 12th-best prospect in Boston’s system by Baseball America, is a 23-year-old who posted a combined .305/.330/.454 slash line over 484 PA at Double and Triple-A last season.  While his bat is still developing, Hernandez already has value as a utility infielder able to play second, third and shortstop.

Here’s more from the AL East:

• Allen Craig was outrighted off the Red Sox roster last fall, but he’s in camp competing for a backup role to Hanley Ramirez, writes Sean McAdam of CSN Northeast. Craig’s power has evaporated since his heyday with the Cardinals. He’s still just 31 years old – young enough to rediscover his groove and contribute in the majors. However, he’ll need to make more consistent hard contact, especially to the outfield gaps.
• The Yankees may find it challenging to replace Adam Warren, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Warren, traded to the Cubs for Starlin Castro, filled multiple shoes during his Yankees tenure – swingman, multi-inning reliever, and late-inning reliever. While the Yankees have a fantastic back end of the bullpen, the guys ahead of the top three carry some uncertainty. In the rotation, Ivan Nova is a good sixth starter, but the depth behind him looks shaky. Nova is the most likely to fill Warren’s many-hatted role. Bryan Mitchell is another name to watch.
• Also from Sherman, the Yankees should worry about their first base depth too. Much was made this week about the lack of options behind Chase Headley at third base. At first, Mark Teixeira is coming off his most healthy season in recent memory, but he still hasn’t played more than 123 games since 2011. Prospect Greg Bird is out for the year while Alex Rodriguez isn’t expected to don a glove. Dustin Ackley can help provide depth along with Brian McCann. The club may be better served by acquiring a more traditional alternative. Among free agents, Pedro Alvarez and Justin Morneau may be a little rich for an emergency backup role. I could see Jeff Baker, Corey Hart, Ryan Raburn, and Marlon Byrd as potential fits. Byrd would need to learn a new position.
• The role of Yankees top catching prospect Gary Sanchez will require thought, per Sherman. The club is convinced he’s ready, yet there just isn’t much opportunity to play behind McCann at catcher and Rodriguez at designated hitter. Sanchez, who has options, may benefit more from playing regularly at Triple-A. Meanwhile, both Carlos Corporan and Austin Romine can elect free agency if they aren’t ticketed for the 25-man roster.
• Orioles Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard has a shot to stick, writes Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. With Dexter Fowler returning to Chicago, Rickard could be in the mix as a backup in left or right field. He’s a high contact hitter with speed, plate discipline, and minimal power.

FRIDAY: The Red Sox announced a series of moves this afternoon, including the re-signing of catcher Sandy Leon. Boston also outrighted several players off of its 40-man roster (joining Ryan Cook, who was claimed by the Cubs).

Leon was given a major league deal, but simultaneously was outrighted off of the 40-man roster to Triple-A. He’ll earn $534K in the big leagues and $273K in the minors, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter links). The move was obviously conceived of as a mechanism to keep him around as a back-up plan behind the plate without committing a 40-man roster spot.

Meanwhile, Boston has outrighted first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig along with relievers Alexi Ogando and Jean Machi. Craig, of course, is still playing under a significant extension and has now twice been outrighted off of the team’s big league roster. Ogando and Machi were both eligible for arbitration — with MLBTR projecting salaries of $2.4MM and $900K, respectively. Obviously, the club was not interested in committing to that level of pay to the pair of righties.

• The team’s top priority this winter is finding a front-line starter, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets. He adds that Dombrowski said the team needs to find a “horse” to front the rotation. The Herald’s Scott Lauber tweets that Dombrowski said sorting out the back of the rotation won’t be the difficult part of the team’s offseason pitching puzzle, with Dombrowski citing quality depth.
• The Red Sox view Junichi Tazawa as a setup option, and while Koji Uehara is the current ninth-inning option, the team will look for additional closing options, tweets Mastrodonato.
• Trading Allen Craig would be an “ideal” scenario, Dombrowski said (via the Providence Journal’s Tim Britton), but the president recognized that it’ll be difficult to find a taker for the first baseman/corner outfielder/DH. Craig is owed $21MM through the 2017 season (including the buyout on his 2018 club option).
• Boston’s payroll will not go backwards in 2016, Dombrowski said (via Mastrodonato). As Mastrodonato points out, the team is shedding the contracts of Shane Victorino, Justin Masterson, Mike Napoli and others, giving the Sox a good deal of payroll flexibility this winter.
• The Sox are still firmly committed to Hanley Ramirez playing first base in 2016, said Dombrowski (via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). Ramirez is owed $66MM over the next three seasons, and while the Sox will undoubtedly be open to moving him this winter, that would be a difficult task. Via Mastrodonato, Dombrowski said Travis Shaw and Sam Travis are both still valuable depth pieces at first base.
• Regarding the outfield, Mastrodonato tweets that Dombrowski implied that the starters will be Jackie Bradley, Mookie Betts and Rusney Castillo, although Britton adds that Dombrowski seemed to express more confidence in Bradley than Castillo. The Sox will be looking for bench options for the outfield, Mastrodonato adds. I’d imagine that Brock Holt will see some time out there, although that certainly doesn’t rule out further additions, of course.
• John Tomase of WEEI.com has a full-length post recapping some comments from Dombrowski and GM Mike Hazen, including the announcement of some front office promotions. Eddie Romero has been promoted to VP of international scouting, and replay coordinator Adrian Lorenzo will step up to the position of international scouting director.

Here’s more from the AL East:

• Orioles lefty Dana Eveland had an opt-out date yesterday, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter), but he remains listed on the roster of the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. It would appear, then, that he’ll stay in the Baltimore organization and hope that his solid numbers at Triple-A earn him another chance at big league action late this year.
• The Yankees are set up to test their commitment to in-house development as soon as next season, ESPNNewYork.com’s Andrew Marchand writes. He discusses some of the options that could be relied upon in filling out the organization’s roster in the near future. GM Brian Cashman explained that the club is “pretty locked in on some guys,” apparently referencing the fact that New York is not looking at much roster turnover. What upcoming needs there are could be met from within. “We do have some square pegs that will fit in some square holes when you look at 2017,” said Cashman. “That’s a long way off. We do have some placeholders that potentially are going to be in place, if that is the direction we choose. That’s a good thing.”
• Red Sox first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig is getting another shot at the big leagues and is eager to prove he can still be productive, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports. “I feel great about where I’m at,” said Craig. “I know I’m a good player. I’m just looking forward to being back here and playing.” The former All-Star, who has struggled in recent years, says he’s still focused on the present and isn’t concerned with the possibility of moving to another organization. The big question with Craig, of course, is whether he can regain his power, which has yet to come around at Triple-A. Barring a sustained turnaround, Boston figures to have no real promise of finding a taker for any substantial portion of the 31-year-old’s remaining contract obligations.

Here are a few more notes pertaining to the O’s and the AL East…

• In his latest notes column, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Orioles owner Peter Angelos’ stubborn refusal to let Duquette go in order to take the Blue Jays’ president/CEO position last offseason “created an unhealthy environment” around the club’s front office. There’s some lingering resentment, Rosenthal hears, including some among executives who felt they were in line for a promotion upon Duquette’s departure.
• Within that column, Rosenthal also writes that Allen Craig is likely to be re-added to the 40-man roster for a September callup that will allow him to be evaluated not only by new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, but also by rival teams. Craig, though, is owed $21MM through the end of the 2017 season and has batted a meager .271/.367/.348 since being outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket this year. Boston may be able to flip him for a bad contract, but I’d imagine that with only a month’s worth of games and presumably intermittent playing time, it’ll be difficult for him to fully convince other clubs that he can again be an asset.
• Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times profiled and spoke to three veteran players that will be helping the Rays’ Wild Card push: J.P. Arencibia, Daniel Nava and Grady Sizemore. Topkin looks at how each came to join the Rays, with manager Kevin Cash admitting that the team initially expected Sizemore’s Tampa Bay tenure to last three or four days. Sizemore has instead been around for 37 games and delivered roughly league-average offensive production (park-adjusted), though his OBP and defensive skills are admittedly somewhat lacking.

• Top Braves prospect Ozhaino Albies will miss the rest of the season after breaking his thumb, Bowman tweets. The 18-year-old shortstop has been solid this year at the Class A level, slashing .310/.368/.404 with 29 steals. While he’ll lose a bit of development time, the injury doesn’t seem to be much cause for concern given his young age.
• After dealing Mike Napoli to the Rangers, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said today that he “expects there will be another opportunity” for Allen Craig at the big league level this year, as Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald tweets. It’s not yet clear when that will occur, but Craig isn’t exactly knocking on the door. He’s slashed .274/.379/.341 over 298 plate appearances at Triple-A since his demotion, continuing a notable power outage that dates back to the start of 2014.
• Marlins sources say that GM-turned-skipper Dan Jennings is expected to return to the club’s front office after the year, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. If and when the club enters the managerial market, says Jackson, it could consider names like Mike Lowell, Bud Black, Dusty Baker, Terry Kennedy, and Doug Mientkiewicz.
• While Mychal Givens was strong in his first few outings with the Orioles, the club is demoting him to provide another shot to Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia, as Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com writes. Garcia, 22, is back from an extended DL stint after allowing nine earned runs (and eight strikeouts against 11 walks) in his first 13 2/3 innings with Baltimore. In spite of those difficulties, the club seems fairly committed to locking up Garcia’s future rights by keeping him on the active roster the rest of the way.

Some roster-related highlights from the Q&A, as well as a couple other notes pertaining to the 2013 champs…

• Lucchino said he understands the comparisons that are being made between the Hanley Ramirez/Pablo Sandoval signings and the Carl Crawford signing/Adrian Gonzalez extension, but the team certainly never intended to duplicate the aggressive philosophy they showed in 2011. Asked if the Red Sox need to question their evaluation skills in light of those signings as well as the Rick Porcello extension and John Lackey trade, Lucchino replied, “We’re not immune to second-guessing ourselves, but I do think a little more water needs to run underneath the bridge before you can effectively evaluate some of these most recent transactions.”
• Shaughnessy pressed a bit on the Lackey trade in particular, noting that both of the players received in that deal — Joe Kelly and Allen Craig — are now in the minor leagues. Lucchino admitted that the trade looks dismal: “It certainly looks like that deal didn’t result in the kind of gains we thought we’d have in the major leagues. But both of those guys still play for the [Pawtucket] Red Sox and no one has given up on the pitching contributions that Joe Kelly can make in the future.” This is likely reading too much into the comment, but I find it interesting that he didn’t voice a similar vote of confidence in Craig.
• Lucchino voiced the same confidence in GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell that Red Sox owner John Henry has previously expressed. He also repeatedly said he’s yet to wave the white flag on the 2015 season, and the team will reassess more at the tail end of July.
• In an interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Red Sox vice president of player personnel took exception to the narrative that Rusney Castillo was signed based on workouts as opposed to in-game experience. Baird explains that the Red Sox saw Castillo in international play as well as on video from Cuba. Additionally, while owner John Henry has noted in the past that missing out on Jose Abreu may have played a role in Boston’s aggressive pursuit of Castillo, Baird says that the Red Sox did their homework on Castillo. While Castillo certainly hasn’t performed at the level of Abreu, or even fellow countryman Yasmany Tomas, I’d add that it’s still early in his contract, and he’s been slowed by injuries as well.
• The Red Sox were originally optimistic about Hanley Ramirez’s hand after X-rays came back negative, but as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald wrote yesterday, Ramirez is traveling back to Boston to receive an MRI due to persistent discomfort. Ramirez was hit by a line-drive while running the bases last Wednesday, and manager John Farrell told him that the pain worsened over the weekend. A trip to the disabled list is possible, writes Mastrodonato.

• “I don’t see us making a major acquisition for a pitcher [at this time] but I’m not going to say I wouldn’t do it,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said.  As Cafardo notes, the returns of Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova could bolster the rotation, and prospect Luis Severino could also provide some late-season help.
• Reds right-hander Mike Leake is considered by one AL scout to be able to “pitch in either league with no problem” and at the trade deadline, “there might be more action on him than any pitcher out there.”  The Reds could be looking to deal the free agent-to-be since they didn’t discuss an extension with him during the offseason.
• Leake’s trade value may be improved by the fact that teammate Johnny Cueto and the Athletics’ Scott Kazmir (two more pending free agents) have recently been dealing with elbow and shoulder problems, respectively.  Teams will need to see a few healthy outings from both pitchers before their trade interest can be rejuvenated.
• The Dodgers were scouting the Red Sox during their series with the Twins last week.  Cafardo notes that L.A. is looking for relief help.
• With Matt Adams gone for possibly the entire season and the Cardinals in need of first base help, Cafardo opines that Allen Craig could be a possible trade fit.  Craig’s contract, of course, is a major obstacle, not to mention the fact that St. Louis felt comfortable dealing Craig away last summer.  Craig is hitting well at Triple-A but Cafardo writes that it might take “another two weeks of good hitting” for Craig to earn a call-up back to the Red Sox.
• With Trevor Plouffe playing well as the Twins’ regular third baseman, Cafardo wonders if Minnesota would consider a position change for star prospect Miguel Sano.  There has already been a lot of speculation that Sano might be not be able to handle playing third over the long term, though Plouffe is also not a great defensive option.  Of greater concern for the Twins right now is Sano’s recovery from Tommy John surgery, and the early results are pretty good, as Sano is hitting .247/.346/.488 over 191 Double-A plate appearances.