The Padres will designate infielder Alex Castellanos for assignment and transfer right-hander Josh Johnson to the 60-day disabled list today as part of a series of moves to promote right-hander Kevin Quackenbush and infielder Jace Peterson, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com (on Twitter).
Castellanos, 27, is no stranger to DFA limbo as this is the fourth time he has been designated for assignment in the past calendar year. He’s also been DFA’ed by the Dodgers, Red Sox and Rangers, resulting in a trade (from L.A. to Boston) and a pair of waiver claims.
That Castellanos has been unable to pass through waivers at any time is no surprise, given his strong minor league track record. The second baseman/third baseman/outfielder owns a robust 284/.377/.511 batting line in 916 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, though he’s been unable to replicate that success in his brief taste of Major League action to this point. Castellanos has hit just .171/.186/.390 in the bigs, though it’s not entirely fair to judge him based on those numbers as he’s only received 43 plate appearances despite his mastery of the minor leagues.
I hope Alex Castellanos is collecting postcards or something.
But Quackenbush is a fantastic name.
Quackenbush = best show name ever
If only he was a hitter. Then every time he steps up to the plate with runners on, the “ducks on the pond” saying would never get old with Quackenbush.
Fun fact: Quackenbush is the first native of Fraggle Rock to make it to the major leagues.
There should be a rule that says after you get DFA’d more than twice in a calendar year, you can become a free agent and sign with any team. This guy keeps getting claimed and stashed as an insurance policy by teams that don’t really have a place for him to play. I doubt he’s really that good, since most of those AAA numbers were put up in the Albuquerque bandbox, but he deserves a fair opportunity to try.
Big fan of Peterson, happy to see him in the show.
Holy balls, look at Quackenbush’s minor league numbers! Career 1.19 ERA across 174.2 IP