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Welington Castillo

Welington Castillo Retires

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Former big league catcher Welington Castillo is retiring from baseball, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). He’ll hang up his spikes having appeared for five teams in parts of ten major league seasons.

Castillo began his professional career with the Cubs, signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2004 and reaching the majors by 2010. He went on to spend the next four-plus years on the North Side of Chicago, hitting fairly well as the Cubs regular catcher from 2013-14. Chicago traded him to the Mariners in May 2015, and Seattle flipped him to the Diamondbacks as part of a deal to acquire Mark Trumbo a little more than a month later.

The right-handed hitting backstop spent the next year and a half in Arizona, working as the D-Backs primary backstop before being non-tendered. He signed on with the Orioles for the 2017 campaign, again offering his typical blend of quality offense and fringy but playable defense behind the dish. He then returned to Chicago — this time on the South Side — on a two-year deal with the White Sox.

Unfortunately, Castillo’s White Sox tenure didn’t go as hoped. He was suspended for eighty games after testing positive for a banned substance midway through the 2018 season, and he struggled at the plate for the first time in his career in 2019. While Castillo signed minor league deals with the Nationals in each of the past two offseasons, he didn’t make it back to the majors. The 34-year-old opted out last season due to COVID-19 concerns and has spent this year with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate.

While Castillo’s career didn’t end the way he’d likely envisioned, there’s little doubt he had a solid run. Castillo tallied 2701 plate appearances over his ten big league campaigns, compiling a .254/.313/.426 line that betters the .243/.311/.390 mark managed by the league average catcher between 2010-19. Castillo picked up 626 hits (including 98 home runs), drew 183 walks, scored 251 times and drove in 339 runs. Baseball Reference estimates he was worth around 12 wins above replacement. (FanGraphs, which accounts for his generally poor pitch framing metrics, pegs him closer to five wins). B-Ref tallies his career earnings at just north of $28MM. MLBTR congratulates Castillo on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

Nationals Sign Welington Castillo To Minor League Contract

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The Nationals have signed catcher Welington Castillo to a minor league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Castillo will earn a $950K salary if he cracks the Nationals’ big league roster.

This is the second straight winter in which Castillo has inked a minors deal with the Nationals, though he didn’t play at all last year after opting out over COVID-19 concerns. He’ll now vie for a spot on a Nationals team that has just one proven catcher in Yan Gomes. Tres Barrera, who has two major league plate appearances on his resume, is the only other catcher on the team’s 40-man roster.

Last time he took the field, Castillo batted .209/.267/.417 with 12 home runs in 251 plate appearances as a member of the White Sox in 2019. Historically, though, the 33-year-old has been a rather effective offensive player relative to his position. Castillo has amassed 2,701 PA in the bigs with a handful of teams and combined for a .254/.313/.426 line and 98 homers.

Nationals Notes: Kieboom To Start At Third, Denaburg Out, Cavalli In

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Speaking to a handful of DMV-area reporters, Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez said that he expects Carter Kieboom to be the starting third baseman, MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, and Todd Dybas of NBC Sports were among those reporting. It’s a bit of a surprising revelation from Martinez, as last we heard, Kieboom wasn’t even a sure thing to make the Opening Day roster. At the same time, most projections had the 22-year-old making his play for the hot corner by August, surely, so it might be that not much has changed in terms of organizational outlook. More on this and the other goings-on around Nats’ camp…

  • One change that might have affected the Nats’ plan for Kieboom, however, was Ryan Zimmerman opting out for the season. Without Zimmerman, there seems to be plenty of at-bats to go around the remaining veteran contingent of Nationals’ infielders. First base should fall to a strict platoon between Howie Kendrick and Eric Thames, while the off-day first baseman is also likely to split time at DH with Asdrubal Cabrera. Starlin Castro, then, would handle second base relatively full-time while occasionally being spelled by either Cabrera or Kendrick. The Nationals tend to let their prospects play full time, so if Kieboom keeps the starting role through Opening Day, he’s likely to get more-or-less the full slate of 60 games to prove he deserves it.
  • Updating some numbers for us, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post mentions that the Nationals have about 49-50 guys in camp right now of the 58 currently named to the player pool. That said, the Nats’ are widely expected to add first-round pick Cade Cavalli to their 60-man player pool shortly, per TalkNats. The Nats have a few open spots on their roster now that a number of players have opted out for the season (Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross, Welington Castillo).
  • As the Cavalli addition presupposes, the Nats have chosen to include most of the organization’s highest-regarded prospects in the 60-man player pool. That group would have included Mason Denaburg, were he not out for the season recovering from offseason surgery, per Stephen G. Mears of TalkNats. The 6’4″ former catcher ranks eighth on the Nats’ top prospect list per Baseball America. He was the Nats’ top draft choice in 2018, though he’s managed just 20 1/3 innings of pro ball since then.

Welington Castillo Opts Out Of 2020 Season

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Veteran catcher Welington Castillo has opted out of the 2020 season, Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters Friday (Twitter link via the Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty). Castillo inked a minor league contract with the Nationals back in January and was originally announced as part of the team’s 60-man player pool. However, it appears he’ll opt not to play during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castillo likely wouldn’t have opened the year in the Majors, barring an injury to Yan Gomes or Kurt Suzuki, but as a 10-year Major League veteran, he was quite likely the first line of defense should either Gomes or Suzuki need to miss time. With Castillo forgoing the season, he won’t be paid and won’t accrue service time. Catchers Raudy Read, Tres Barrera and Jakson Reetz are all still in the Nationals’ 60-man pool.

The 33-year-old Castillo wrapped up a two-year deal with the White Sox last year. Chicago inked him at a $15.5MM total over two years, and while he hit reasonably well in limited action in 2018 (.259/.304/.406), his 2019 season was the worst of his career at the plate. In 251 plate appearances, Castillo mustered just a .209/.267/.417 slash.

Castillo becomes the third member of the Nationals organization to sit out the 2020 season, joining first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and right-hander Joe Ross. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end and likely return to the open market in search of another minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. In 2701 career plate appearances, Castillo is a .254/.313/.426 hitter with 98 home runs.

Nationals To Sign Welington Castillo

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The Nationals have a deal in place with backstop Welington Castillo, per reports from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) and Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington (via Twitter). He’ll be in big league camp this spring.

Castillo will join a catching mix that already includes two MLB fixtures in Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes, both of whom are playing on guaranteed contracts. The former has dealt with some health issues, but all indications are that the pairing will be available at the outset of the season.

Accordingly, Castillo will have a hard time cracking the Nats’ 26-man roster unless an injury arises or the club decides to carry three backstops. It’s certainly possible he could look to catch on elsewhere if he turns in a solid spring but can’t get a look in D.C. Alternatively, Castillo could end up as depth at Triple-A.

At times in his career, Castillo has been quite a strong offensive producer for a catcher. But he’s coming off of a suboptimal 2019 season (.209/.267/.417) after sitting out for a big chunk of the prior campaign owing to a PED suspension. Through 2,701 career plate appearances over the past decade, Castillo carries a .254/.313/.426 batting line.

Castillo’s reputation isn’t quite as good on the other side of the action. Outside of an outlying 2017 season, he has mostly rated as a poor framer. Castillo has typically graded well as a blocker and thrower, but nosedived in both areas (the former, especially) in that rough 2019 showing.

Rangers To Decline Club Options On Nate Jones, Shawn Kelley, Welington Castillo

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The Rangers are planning to decline their 2020 club options on newly-acquired catcher Welington Castillo and right-handers Nate Jones and Shawn Kelley, The Athletic’s Levi Weaver reports (Twitter link).  Castillo will be bought out for $500K rather than his $8MM salary for 2020.  Jones will receive a $1.25MM buyout rather than $3.75MM, and Kelley will get $250K in buyout money rather than $2.5MM in 2020.

Both Castillo and Jones came from the White Sox in trades that were ultimately more about the international bonus money that came into the Rangers’ coffers rather than anything the two veteran players brought to the table.  Jones underwent right forearm surgery last season and was already on the 60-day injured list at the time of the deadline day trade, never suiting up for Texas in a game.  With this much uncertainty surrounding his health, and Jones’ checkered injury history also looming as a big factor, it perhaps isn’t surprising that the Rangers decided to move on and explore less-risky relief options.

As for Kelley, he said in September that he was planning to retire if his option wasn’t picked up, so today’s news could mark the end of the right-hander’s Major League career.  Kelley spent time on the IL due to a biceps injury and a bacterial infection last season, and posted a 4.94 ERA, 8.2 K/9, and 3.91 K/BB rate over 47 1/3 innings when healthy.  If this is indeed the end, Kelley has enjoyed a very solid career over 11 seasons as a Major League reliever, posting a 3.80 ERA over 464 2/3 IP and banking over $25MM in career earnings.

Rangers Acquire Welington Castillo

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The Rangers have acquired catcher Welington Castillo and international draft bonus pool money from the White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder and corner infielder Jonah McReynolds, as per Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake (Twitter link).  Texas has also outrighted left-hander Jesse Biddle and outfielder Zack Granite to Triple-A, with Biddle first being reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

The Rangers will get $250K in international bonus funds, as per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link), which seems to have been the team’s real incentive for the trade.  Texas is expected to decline Castillo’s $8MM club option and instead pay him a $500K buyout.

In essence, the White Sox decided to save that $500K of Major League payroll in favor of giving up $250K in international money.  It could be that the Sox also simply decided McReynolds was of more interest to them than any other prospects who might arise on the international market.

Castillo became expendable in Chicago after he hit only .209/.267/.417 over 251 PA in 2019, losing playing time to James McCann in the process.  This comes on the heels of a 2018 season that saw Castillo post some respectable numbers (94 OPS+, 96 wRC+) for a catcher over 181 PA, though that year was marred by an 80-game PED suspension.

While the $8MM salary was too rich for the Rangers’ liking, it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see the team have an interest in Castillo at a lower price.  While Castillo struggled at the plate last year, his numbers still represent an improvement over what the current Texas catching corps (Jeff Mathis, Jose Trevino, Isiah Kiner-Falefa) produced in 2019.  Then again, the Rangers could also choose to stand pat at catcher since they have several other areas to address this winter.

McReynolds, who turns 24 in December, was a 13th-round pick for the Rangers in the 2016 draft.  He has a .217/.285/.322 slash line over 637 PA in his first four pro seasons, the last three of which have been spent at low A-ball.  He has played all over the diamond as a professional, though spent much of 2019 focused on third base and first base.

White Sox Purchase Contract Of Hector Santiago

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The White Sox announced today that they have purchased the contract of lefty Hector Santiago. He’ll take the 40-man spot of fellow southpaw swingman Manny Banuelos, who was moved to the 60-day IL to make way.

In other news, backstop Welington Castillo was reinstated from the family medical emergency leave list. He’ll technically serve as the 26th man in today’s doubleheader, meaning that the team will have to make a further active roster move thereafter.

Santiago, 31, is in his third stint with the Chicago organization. He opened his career on the South Side and also pitched there last year. Santiago struggled in a brief MLB stint earlier this year with the Mets. In eighty total frames at Triple-A in 2019, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 32 walks.

White Sox Purchase Contract Of Matt Skole

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The White Sox announced today that they have purchased the contract of corner infielder Matt Skole. He’ll be joined on the active roster by Seby Zavala, who was called up with fellow catcher Welington Castillo going on the family medical emergency leave list.

Skole, who recently celebrated his thirtieth birthday, landed with the White Sox organization last year after running out his time with the Nationals club. Though he earned a brief chance at a MLB debut, Skole spent the bulk of the season in the upper minors — just as he had dating way back to 2013 — and lost his 40-man spot late in the season.

This year, Skole has boosted his output, though part of that reflects a rising International League offensive mean. Still, his .248/.384/.497 batting line reflects some real improvement. Skole has maintained his power (21 home runs) while improving his plate-discipline to levels he hasn’t managed since his time in the low minors (17.9% walk rate vs. 25.3% strikeout rate).

A left-handed hitter, Skole will likely function mostly as a bench bat and part-time DH. He has spent plenty of time at third base over his career, but has appeared primarily at first in recent seasons. If he appears in the field, it seems likeliest to come in occasional relief of regular first bagger Jose Abreu.

Health Notes: McCann, Castillo, Polanco, Severino

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Veteran Braves backstop Brian McCann hasn’t yet decided on his future but feels great in the present, he tells David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link) as part of a lengthy and entertaining chat. The 35-year-old backstop would say only that “we’ll see what happens” when pressed on his intentions for playing beyond the current campaign. It certainly seems like a tempting proposition for McCann, who says he “feel[s] amazing” after undergoing knee surgery last year. While he has had some ups and downs at the plate this season, McCann carries a solid .257/.328/.427 batting line over 198 plate appearances and has been an excellent value for the Braves at $2MM. His ongoing knee health seems to bode well for the organization down the stretch.

More on a few health situations from around the game …

  • The White Sox announced today that they have activated catcher Welington Castillo. He ended up missing about a month with an oblique strain. It remains to be seen how the Chicago org will allocate playing time, but odds are James McCann will continue to receive the lion’s share of the duties behind the dish. Castillo could conceivably be moved later this month, if only because teams will be looking to stash depth in advance of the single trade deadline, but he won’t hold much appeal given his ugly .196/.289/.364 slash. The veteran backstop is also earning a hefty $7.25MM this year and is owed a $500K buyout on a $8MM club option for 2020. The White Sox may also just hang tight and see if their club can make a surprise run at a Wild Card slot.
  • Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco won’t bounce back to the majors quite as quickly as had been hoped. As Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, Polanco was pulled from a rehab contest with left shoulder tightness. For now, the club only intends to give him a brief rest without interrupting the rehab assignment. As Mackey notes, the timing is of some consequence to the Bucs. The club is in a tough spot as the trade deadline approaches, having slipped into the NL Central cellar. It’s arguably positioned to sell a left-handed-hitting outfielder regardless of what else it does — highly paid pending free agent Corey Dickerson seems a particular candidate — but it’ll be tough to pull the trigger on a deal if there’s uncertainly regarding Polanco’s availability.
  • As expected, Yankees righties Luis Severino and Dellin Betances resumed throwing yesterday, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. Indications are that all went well for both hurlers in limited sessions, designed only to begin reintroducing their strained lats to the rigors of the MLB mound. Severino told reporters that he’d be willing to work back in a relief capacity if that’s the organization’s preference. While that’d bring him aboard quicker, it probably isn’t the optimal outcome for a club that has a need for quality rotation pieces and can probably afford to be patient.
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