Van Everyman said:
Because they made a bet that Castillo would be ready. To me, that seems to be the MO of Henry's leadership since Theo left and Cherington was put in charge: big bets.
Bets like:
1) Believing that pitchers over 30 won't be worth the price to retain or sign them (Lester).
2) Believing that you can field a rotation with a bunch of #3 pitchers and no true "ace" (Porcello, Miley, Kelly).
3) Overpaying for a bunch of mid-tier talent as opposed to elite talent that would cost significantly more and for a longer period of time (the 2013 offseason plan w Vic, Gomes and Nap but also, perhaps, Hanley and Panda).
4) Paying a premium for raw international talent (Castillo but also Moncada).
5) Developing young talent at the major league level (JBJ, Bogey, Swihart to some extent).
You can argue BTW that the only bet that has actually paid off is #3.
I'm not entirely sure why anyone would be surprised that the results of these bets would be boom or bust. Or disappointed really, given that the one time it did pay off it was pretty much as good as baseball gets.
As a fan, it's a nice alternative to the Pats' model which is to be in it every year with the hope that you will get over the hump every now and then. Of course in football the bets aren't often as big given that contracts aren't generally guaranteed.
All of which is to say, the Castillo bet hasn't paid off in year 1. It still might yet in years 2 on. In which case we might be looking at his deal a lot more favorably as we do Vic's contract.
Well, as to your last point, this is why this thread is something of a tempest in a teacup.
As to the others, Ben bet "successfully" on Betts, Xander, and Swihart as a replacement catcher. Ben ticketed JBJ for a year's seasoning in AAA, which seems to be working. Hanley has been as advertised with the bat - and seems to be the Ortiz replacement. Sandoval is getting his numbers back in line with expectations, but remains a defensive disappointment. Ben held on to Buchholz, traded for Rodriguez, and signed Miley, who is pretty much looking like a #3.
A lot of the team underperformance is just the individual players failing or getting injured. I don't think the 2015 Sox model relied on everyone taking a step forward. If Porcello, Masterson, Kelly, Nava, Ortiz, Nap and Miley (to some extent) hadn't turned in career-nadir performances, we wouldn't be discussing Castillo. I'm discounting Vic because the Sox didn't seem to be relying on him.
About the only two there that seemed like true risks were Masterson and Nap - but Nap got elective surgery in the off season. I don't think the club could have predicted that, nor should they have gotten a Nap replacement when it looked like Nap had recovered and was having his hot spring training.