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Luis Castillo (b. 1995)

Anderson Espinoza Signs With NPB’s Orix Buffaloes

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The Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball announced the signing of right-hander Anderson Espinoza this week. Orix also signed righty Luis Castillo for the 28-year-old’s second season in Japan.

Espinoza is the more well-known of the two former big leaguers. That’s largely on account of his prospect status. At one time regarded among the top minor league pitching talents, Espinoza was dealt from the Red Sox to the Padres for Drew Pomeranz at the 2016 deadline. Unfortunately, the 6’0″ righty was then beset by myriad injuries.

Elbow soreness was a precursor to Tommy John surgery in 2017. He spent two years rehabbing only to have a setback that required a second TJS. Between the surgeries and the canceled minor league season in 2020, Espinoza didn’t throw a single minor league pitch over four years.

San Diego traded him to the Cubs for veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick during the 2021 campaign. He reached the big leagues in Chicago, tossing 18 2/3 innings over seven relief outings. Espinoza turned in a 5.40 ERA in that limited time and was outrighted from the 40-man roster at year’s end.

He signed a minor league pact to return to the Padres a year ago. The 25-year-old had a full season from the rotation with Triple-A El Paso but struggled to a 6.15 ERA through 131 2/3 frames. He fanned a below-average 19% of opponents while issuing walks at a lofty 12% clip. The Friars opted against calling him back to the majors, setting the stage for his first trip to Japan.

Castillo, the lesser-known righty by that name, reached the majors for three relief outings with the Tigers in 2022. After a decade in the minors, he made the jump to NPB a year ago with the Chiba Lotte Marines. Castillo split his time almost evenly between the Marines and their minor league club. At the NPB level, he posted a 3.12 ERA over 49 frames. His 17% strikeout rate was modest but he showed impeccable control, only walking 1.5% of opposing hitters.

Tigers Claim Andy Ibanez, Outright Six Players

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The Tigers have claimed infielder Andy Ibáñez off waivers from the Rangers, according to announcements from both teams. Detroit also outrighted six players — infielders Jermaine Palacios and Luis Garcia, right-handers Elvin Rodríguez, Bryan Garcia and Luis Castillo and outfielder Víctor Reyes — off their 40-man roster. After reinstating all their players from the injured list, Detroit has a full 40-man roster.

Ibáñez was Texas’ Opening Day starter at third base in 2022. He’d earned a look from the Rangers after hitting .277/.321/.435 through his first 76 big league games in 2021. The Cuban-born infielder looked like a viable late-blooming utilityman, but his offense dropped this year. Ibáñez hit .218/.273/.277 over 128 MLB plate appearances, connecting on just one home run. He had a better but still unimposing .255/.330/.390 mark over 315 plate appearances at Triple-A Round Rock.

Tough season aside, Ibáñez does have quality bat-to-ball skills and a typically solid track record of upper minors performance. He’s a career .288/.358/.456 hitter through parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’ll be 30 at the start of next season but has yet to reach arbitration and still has a minor league option year remaining. Ibáñez can play first, second or third base and adds a contact-focused depth infielder to the Tigers organization.

Of the players coming off the roster, Reyes is the most notable. He’s played parts of five seasons with the Tigers, tallying a personal-high 336 plate appearances in 2022. The switch-hitting outfielder put up a .254/.289/.362 mark with just three homers. He’s capable of defending all three outfield spots but has consistently provided below-average offense. Projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $2.2MM salary for his penultimate season of arbitration eligibility, he proved a fairly straightforward non-tender for first-year president of baseball operations Scott Harris.

Rodríguez debuted this year and started five of seven games. He surrendered a 10.62 ERA through 29 2/3 innings, posting a 4.98 mark over 99 1/3 innings with Triple-A Toledo. Bryan Garcia had spent his entire career as a reliever until 2022, when he took a few starts late in the year for an injury-battered rotation. He had a 3.80 ERA over 85 1/3 innings with the Mud Hens. Castillo, a 27-year-old reliever, made his first three big league appearances this year after posting a 1.74 ERA in 40 games for Toledo.

Palacios and Luis Garcia, meanwhile, never suited up for the Tigers. Palacios played in 30 games for the Twins, and Detroit nabbed the infielder off waivers from their division rivals after the end of the season. Garcia was once an interesting prospect in the Phillies farm system, but his bat stalled out in High-A this year. He has very little Double-A experience. Detroit claimed him late in the season but it always looked likely they’d try to run through waivers at some point.

Luis Garcia will remain in the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Palacios, Bryan Garcia, Rodríguez, Castillo and Reyes all have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment and test minor league free agency.

Tigers Release Michael Pineda

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Sep. 7: The Tigers announced that Pineda has cleared waivers and been granted his release.

Sep. 4: The Tigers have designated right-hander Michael Pineda for assignment, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic was among those to report. His roster spot will go to reliever Luis Castillo.

Pineda, 33, is a veteran who made his MLB debut with the Mariners back in 2011 and has since pitched for the Yankees and Twins. He joined the Tigers for this season on a one-year deal that came with a $5.5MM guarantee as well as incentives based on innings pitched.

At the time, it was surely hoped that Pineda could be a reliable veteran presence in a rotation that featured a lot of talented but inexperienced youngsters. In the end, just about every pitcher who started a game for the Tigers spent some time on the injured list this year, with Pineda being no exception. He went to the IL in May due to a right middle finger fracture, costing him about six weeks. In late July, he returned to the IL due to right triceps tightness, which kept him away for another five weeks.

Between those IL stints, he’s only been able to make 11 starts and throw 46 2/3 innings. He also hasn’t been able to be very effective, with his 5.79 ERA almost a full run above his previous career high of 4.82. His 13% strikeout rate is easily the worst of his career, though his control is still present, with his 4% walk rate about half of the league average for starters.

The Tigers are well out of contention and will use the final weeks of the season to audition youngsters for roles on future teams. “I hate it for Michael,” manager A.J. Hinch tells Stavenhagen. “Nothing worse than telling a veteran of his magnitude and his career that we’re moving on from him. But for us, it’s time to take a look at the guys who have a better chance of being here.”

There might also be a financial reason for the move, as Pineda was about to start hitting the incentives in his contract. He would have received $375K for hitting each of the 50, 75, 100, and 125 inning benchmarks, and he would receive an additional $500K for tossing 150 and 175 innings. Since he’s currently at 46 2/3 frames on the year, he likely would have earned himself an extra $375K in his next start. Instead, he will be put on waivers in the coming days, likely clearing waivers given the approximately $800K remaining on his deal. Assuming he does clear, he would be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency, by virtue of having more than five years of MLB service time.

Tigers Select Luis Castillo

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The Tigers selected the contract of right-hander Luis Castillo, the team announced today. Not to be confused with the longtime Red (and new Mariner), the 27-year-old Castillo will be making his big-league debut whenever he enters a game. He’ll take the roster spot opened when the club optioned fellow righty Bryan Garcia to Triple-A Toledo following last night’s game against the Rays.

It’s been a long road to the big leagues for Castillo, who spent a full five seasons in rookie ball after signing with the Diamondbacks out of the Dominican Republic. He made it to Triple-A Reno in 2021 before joining the Tigers in the offseason and has put together an excellent 2022 campaign. Across 38 innings between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo, he’s logged a 1.42 ERA while striking out 23.2% of the batters he’s faced.

Garcia, who’s appeared for the Tigers in each of the past four seasons, struggled with control in his recent stint with the big club, walking a full 24.2% of batters faced, including six in yesterday’s start against the Rays. While he managed to limit the damage — he has a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings this year — his 6.37 FIP tells a different story. For his career, Garcia owns a 5.73 ERA (5.76 FIP) in 75 1/3 big-league innings.

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