Rusney Castillo will likely serve as the Red Sox center fielder, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in his latest video. As Rosenthal points out, the Red Sox also need a center field quality outfielder for their spacious right field, but Castillo may not have the necessary arm strength for right. The club views Castillo as similar to Shane Victorino. He should be able hit second, sixth, or seventh while delivering power and good base running skills. Once he receives his work visa, the Sox plan to get Castillo some reps at the minor league level before exposing him to the majors in September.
- The Orioles are going to miss the presence of Manny Machado, who is sidelined for the remainder of the season while recovering from knee surgery. Chris Davis will slide to third with Steve Pearce at first. Club officials were peeved that news of the surgery leaked so quickly, since they believe it will affect their leverage in trade discussions.
- Reds GM Walt Jocketty’s contract expires after this season, but he will remain in Cincinnati. He has “unfinished business” to resolve, including a rotation that is set to lose four of it’s five members following the 2015 season.
After reading about the Rusney Castillo signing, I can’t help but think back to April when the media has us believing that the Red Sox were a 95 win team in 2014. I guess when you win no one can actually question your decision to go with youth.
Even Pecota had them winning the division and the Orioles in last place.
Alex you are missing the point. They weren’t going to trade manny and teams wouldn’t have asked about manny. The point is that if a team knows Manny isn’t coming back and they are desprate for a replacement third basemen they could ask for more in a deal then if they think the O’s aren’t in much of a need because they might get Manny might come back.
What do you think they were doing looking for a 3B? They could have found a short term fix perhaps with Flaherty or Schoop–they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar–I agree with Alex.
I don’t know if Rusney will have the OBP to hit 2nd…
I don’t think you don’t understand.
The Orioles weren’t trying to trade Machado as damaged goods (he’s untouchable). They’re in trade talks to pick up 3Bs to replace Machado this year for the playoffs. Now that it’s leaked, other teams know they can ask for a little more in return.