Cuban OF Rusney Castillo has private showcase scheduled with Red Sox
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E5 Yaz said:
I was under the impression that the comments about a decision this week have been media folks doing "this is what I'm hearing" kind of reporting. But I wouldn't doubt it's coming from Roc Nation. The game would be, leak it that a decision will come by Friday, get everybody salivating over that, then let tomorrow evening go by without an announcement, but drop a few tantalizing hints to spark an over-the-weekend Twitter frenzy. Then make an announcement late Sunday, just in time for ESPN's game...."But the big news tonight: Rusney Castillo". And then it's all over the Monday morning blogosphere.
"The Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers appear to be the front-runners for the services of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, two league sources said Thursday, with a decision expected no later than the weekend."
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11389687/boston-red-sox-detroit-tigers-front-runners-add-cuban-rusney-castillo-according-sources
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11389687/boston-red-sox-detroit-tigers-front-runners-add-cuban-rusney-castillo-according-sources
Gordon Edes with that bit of info. Who knows if it's accurate. Time will tell.BeantownIdaho said:
ArgentinaSOXfan said:
If this turns out to be true they are going into next year with Castillo and Cespedes as good bets to play all season and be average to above average players. That leaves one outfield position and two bench spots to sort out between Victorino, Craig, Bradley, Betts and Nava. While the lack of a star player is noteworthy, that's a very solid group of players to go into the winter with. Victorino and Craig might provide one healthy season between them. Betts and Bradley will be fighting it out down the stretch to get a leg up on a spot for next year and the other will probably be traded. Nava is a great 4th outfielder option. I'm hoping that between the winner of the Betts and Bradley competition and a combination of Victorino and Craig will be enough to fill that third outfield spot at average or better production for 2015.
My money is on Betts being with the team and Bradley shipped out or maybe even in Pawtucket as depth. Betts provides more flexibility and redundancy for the infield at two positions as well as being an emergency short stop. He can still amass 500 ABs even if he's not one of the primary starters in the outfield.
So... what do they do about the left side of the infield?
I doubt the organization is depending on Bradley at this point. That's not to say they've given up on him, but I can't see them counting on him to play 160 games next season in Boston. I'm expecting some sort of large trade this off-season and I'm further expecting Betts to be part of that deal. His value is at a high level now, he's not an outfielder, and he's never playing second base for this organization. He's the perfect trade piece. I'm not sure what they can expect out of Victorino either. They'll know far better than I do, but considering this season and his history, it seems safe to say that between he and Craig the organization might get a full season of productivity or they might not.
In the end, we're talking about a pretty unsettled outfield situation and adding an unknown, untested player in Castillo doesn't clear things up either. It's going to be an interesting off-season.
In the end, we're talking about a pretty unsettled outfield situation and adding an unknown, untested player in Castillo doesn't clear things up either. It's going to be an interesting off-season.
Yeah, the organization seems to think Betts has enough potential out there to give him a real shot and they are trying him at center, not left, so it's not like they are hiding him somewhere low on the defensive spectrum. I think something like Cespedes, Betts, Castillo left to right is a decent way to go into 2015, with the hope that Victorino and/or Craig are healthy enough to force the issue of finding playing time for everyone.
I suppose they could look to dump Victorino and Craig (and maybe Nava) and then target another outfielder in a trade or something, but it seems like a long way to go to try and find an incremental gain. They will be much better off focusing on the infield, IMO. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that the above report is accurate and that the Red Sox being confident means they actually land him.
As for Castillo being unproven... yeah, he is. However, if the front office has bid high enough to win, they clearly think his floor is somewhere around average and are hoping for better. I'm willing to trust that evaluation.
I suppose they could look to dump Victorino and Craig (and maybe Nava) and then target another outfielder in a trade or something, but it seems like a long way to go to try and find an incremental gain. They will be much better off focusing on the infield, IMO. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that the above report is accurate and that the Red Sox being confident means they actually land him.
As for Castillo being unproven... yeah, he is. However, if the front office has bid high enough to win, they clearly think his floor is somewhere around average and are hoping for better. I'm willing to trust that evaluation.
I've been a Sox fan to know that this is just about the time when the Yankees SWOOP in and steal someone with the last-second high bid.ArgentinaSOXfan said:
IF they do sign him it just makes the Craig move all the weirder for me. There's nowhere for him to play right now and they are potentially adding another player who plays several positions that he does.
It's all the weirder in that the return for Lackey fellt low, and there was no obvious need to rush dropping him this season (there may have been internal or headache from complaints type reasons of course).
Why take Craig and his salary if you aren't planning to play him and if you are where does he fit?
Cespedes is likely LF, Betts or JBJ CF (or Rusney if they get him), Victorino or the Bett/s JBJ loser RF (can Craig even handle RF at fenway I'd think dubious), Holt as depth, Nava in the mix as well. Napoli is 1B and Papi DH. I don't see where Craig plays NOW let alone is Castillo is added.
Now if he was cheap/ had options/ whatever fine but he's not cheap, and not young and frankly hasn't been good enough to force most of those players out of a lineup.
Edit: language choice could be taken wrong
It's all the weirder in that the return for Lackey fellt low, and there was no obvious need to rush dropping him this season (there may have been internal or headache from complaints type reasons of course).
Why take Craig and his salary if you aren't planning to play him and if you are where does he fit?
Cespedes is likely LF, Betts or JBJ CF (or Rusney if they get him), Victorino or the Bett/s JBJ loser RF (can Craig even handle RF at fenway I'd think dubious), Holt as depth, Nava in the mix as well. Napoli is 1B and Papi DH. I don't see where Craig plays NOW let alone is Castillo is added.
Now if he was cheap/ had options/ whatever fine but he's not cheap, and not young and frankly hasn't been good enough to force most of those players out of a lineup.
Edit: language choice could be taken wrong
I think you're downplaying the Joe Kelly part of the trade a bit much. If anything we had to take Craig to get Kelly.LondonSox said:
Craig in left, Castillo in center, Cespedes in right, Nava and Victorino on the bench.LondonSox said:
Bradley and Betts both go to Pawtucket.
2016 comes around, Napoli moves on, Craig to first, Cespedes to left, one of Bradley or Betts to right. Our maybe the kid hours to center and Castillo moves to right.
I don't think the Craig acquisition is hard to understand.
That they chose to trade a solid Number 2 starter who was scheduled to make $500k next season tells you, I think, that they saw real problems with an unhappy or unwilling Lackey if they didn't move him. Given that, they converted him into a starter they like and an OF who was an All Star last season, was very good the prior year, and who was in the midst of a down season and therefore someone the Cards were willing to move. Craig is either a guy who they think can bounce back and someone they'll find a place for next season, or a tradeable asset (hopefully). I'm guessing that other teams knew that the Sox had limited options with Lackey, and that they got the haul they did was pretty good work in my view.
And back to Castillo, when they made the move for Craig, they ddin't know how good their chances were on landiing the latest Cuban to hit the market. And, of course, they may not get him. With the Yankees lurking, there's always the chance that Castillo gets an offer that way exceeds what the Red Sox bid. I believe that the process is not transparent and we saw the Sox lose out on Abreu by a reported $5 mm last year, and something similar could happen again. If they had perfect knowledge that they would get Castillo when they acquired Craig, the question about Craig would be a better one.
That they chose to trade a solid Number 2 starter who was scheduled to make $500k next season tells you, I think, that they saw real problems with an unhappy or unwilling Lackey if they didn't move him. Given that, they converted him into a starter they like and an OF who was an All Star last season, was very good the prior year, and who was in the midst of a down season and therefore someone the Cards were willing to move. Craig is either a guy who they think can bounce back and someone they'll find a place for next season, or a tradeable asset (hopefully). I'm guessing that other teams knew that the Sox had limited options with Lackey, and that they got the haul they did was pretty good work in my view.
And back to Castillo, when they made the move for Craig, they ddin't know how good their chances were on landiing the latest Cuban to hit the market. And, of course, they may not get him. With the Yankees lurking, there's always the chance that Castillo gets an offer that way exceeds what the Red Sox bid. I believe that the process is not transparent and we saw the Sox lose out on Abreu by a reported $5 mm last year, and something similar could happen again. If they had perfect knowledge that they would get Castillo when they acquired Craig, the question about Craig would be a better one.
Snodgrass'Muff said:
Daisuke Matsuzaka.It cost the Red Sox $51,111,111.11 just for the right to negotiate with him. Was he worth it? Is this a case of the Red Sox saying, "We're hurting and we missed out on all those great Cubans. Maybe we'd better not take a chance of missing out on this one. So what if he doesn't pan out. It's only money." Of course, I wonder while they couldn't spend the money on established stars already on their roster.
FTFY.Snodgrass'Muff said:
I mean, you can't turn a question mark into an exclamation point just by repeating it enough times.
I am going to imagine a day when people on Sosh stop pretending they know the future. When they put a modicum of trust in the ownership group that has delivered 3 world series. It might not be silly but it will be beautiful.j44thor said:
Come on now, Lose. Damon, Teixeira (2009), CC and probably a half-dozen others over the past 10 years that we wanted and the Yankees outbid us on. Most of which I don't regret getting but at the time it stung quite a bit. Don't you remember Teix's wife!?!Lose Remerswaal said:
Anyways, my point is that the Yankees are always there to put in a last-second bid that outdoes everyone else but the new Steinbrenner doesn't seem to have as much of an open wallet as George. 
While I agree with the first part, given how few times they have actually made the playoffs lately and 2 (most likely) last place seasons in the last 3 years means they aren't infallible.OptimusPapi said:
https://twitter.com/Marino_Pepen/status/502825964460863489
Dunno how legit. That's a lot of $$ though. $12 million per year. Would be over what most people estimated he would sign for.
Dunno how legit. That's a lot of $$ though. $12 million per year. Would be over what most people estimated he would sign for.
Betts and Castillo can handle CF and 3b between them. Craig in LF, Cespedes in RF, Victorino a 400 AB bench guy with Nava as a 5th OF/backup 1b.
Your first 5 months and 49 posts here must have left an indelible impression on you.
It's entirely possible that Castillo becomes a bust. Obviously the front office likes him, but they've liked plenty of guys who've not produced.
NickEsasky said:
Of course not. But we've seen a workout video of the guy on YouTube. They've seen him in Fort Myers, and presumably have someone quietly scouting the Serie Nacional.
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