The Diamondbacks decided not to tender arbitration contracts to catcher Welington Castillo and righty Rubby De La Rosa, per a team announcement. The decision on Castillo, in particular, rates as a surprise; both will be available to the highest bidder on the open market.
Castillo had been projected by MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz to earn a fairly hefty $5.9MM in his final season of control. But in this market, with more teams seemingly in need of catching than there are serviceable backstops to go around, that seemed plenty reasonable.
After all, Castillo is still just 29 years of age and provided the D-Backs with 457 plate appearances of .264/.322/.423 hitting last year, while swatting 14 home runs. That was slightly below a league-average rate of production for a hitter, but is quite useful for a catcher. And Castillo had shown some real upside just a season before, when he popped 17 long balls and OPS’ed .813 over 303 plate appearances following his mid-season acquisition by the Snakes.
Of course, offense isn’t everything, particularly for the catching position. Castillo rated as a slightly below-average framer by StatCorner’s measure in 2016, though he was right at par the season prior. In the view of Baseball Prospectus, though, he was rather terrible at gaining strikes for his pitchers last year.
On the surface, even with the questions about his ability to win the corners for a team’s staff, it might have seemed that Castillo would at least have held trade appeal. Surely, though, that possibility was explored by Arizona before it finalized its course. From the organization’s perspective, it can roll the dice that Chris Herrmann (at a projected $1MM arb salary) will reprise his surprising run from 2016. And it’ll look to help nurture its rotation back to health with a steady hand in a reserve role, as the D-Backs have reportedly agreed to terms with free agent Jeff Mathis, That duo figures to cost a fair sight less than Castillo would have alone.
De La Rosa, whose elbow health is in question, was projected at a $3.0MM tab. That was an amply reasonable amount for his talent, particularly considering that there’s another season of control to go, but the team may not have been encouraged by the medical signals it received.
Last we checked in, the 27-year-old was undergoing stem cell therapy in an effort to avoid Tommy John surgery. He has previously undergone a UCL replacement in his career, and at this point, a repeat procedure surely would’ve caused him to miss all of the 2017 season. In that event, Arizona would’ve been required to promise him the same rate of pay both for 2017 and 2018, all in the hopes that he’d return (and return to form) in the second of those two years.
That being said, it’s tough to give up on a pitcher of De La Rosa’s promise. He had turned in 50 2/3 innings of 4.26 ERA pitching in 2016, and struggled with the long ball, but did post a strong 9.6 K/9 rate to go with his 3.6 BB/9. Some ERA estimators believed he had been a bit unfortunate, as he ended the year with a 3.85 FIP and 3.86 SIERA. De La Rosa brings a mid-nineties heater to the table, and will be an interesting bounceback candidate.
Haha uhhh. okay.
I’m a little surprised about this one
Maybe they are in the works to sign another Catcher
Maybe they’ll just try to sign them for less. Hard to believe they’re giving up on both of them
Well they probably know more about De La Rosa’s recovery from his Plasma Rep. So the de la rosa one isn’t to shocking.
bad move
Wow didn’t see that coming. Probably good for Castillo, he seemed to be on the bench a little much.
Ok Braves go get Castillo
Second that!
almost every team in baseball should be in on Beef. As for Rubby, the guy has “dominant reliever” written all over him. Somebody has to be smart enough to make the switch.
First thing I thought as well. De la Rosa seems like a candidate for a transition to the pen
Somehow that explosive fastball doesn’t seem to play well as a starter I agree.
I couldn’t disagree more with both of these decisions..
METS PLEASE
OMG please Mets!!
This makes so little sense right now. The D-backs have no catchers.
Not sure why they wouldn’t just tender them contracts and try to trade them..
I’d be shocked if they didn’t try that. I would’ve thought Wellington would have had some value, but evidently not at that price point, but I’m sure they’ve been shopping him. Rubby must be hurt still, because $3 million is nothing for a young pitcher with his upside, even if he ends up in a bullpen.
They probably tried. DeLaRosa with the injury makes sense why nobody would trade pieces for him probably concerned about TJ. That’s kind of a waste of a roster spot.
Well, this is…unexpected. They have the medicals on RDLR, so I guess they know he’s not healthy (always liked him though, so I hope he lands on his feet). Castillo I don’t get at all unless Kendrick really needs to dump payroll
This wreaks of retooling salary dumps.
Yeah it has to be, although I don’t think they’re in a position as an organization to run half-measures with their payroll with Pollock down to 2 years of control. This may start the teardown.
Well they don’t really need a full teardown if they are able to move Tomas and Grienke it appears they can still be competitive and retool with an eye for 2018 in mind. But with their new FO it’s hard to even know. God did Stewart royal screw up that situation.
The problem with retooling is that the Dodgers look set up to be the best team in the NL by then (as I’m sure you’re aware). They have like $45 million in dead money coming off, more young talent on the way in Bellinger/De Leon, and Urias/Seager likely cement themselves as true superstars. I just don’t see any way the D-Backs compete with LA at that point, and the organizational decision needs to be made by then, because Pollock and Goldschmidt can either reinvigorate a farm or core a playoff team, but they shouldn’t burn their time on a 75-win team.
As a dodger fan I get it. I just see the Dbacks as being the 4th best team in the west next year unless they make some drastic moves. The question for them will continue to be how the young pitching develops. I think locking up both Goldy and Pollock are crucial. Boy they are special and fun to watch. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. That Miller trade man did that kill a good thing. It just smells and looks like a half measure which if you think about it they don’t have many bad contracts on the books just two that together could kill them. Grienke really handcuffs them especially with that partial NTC.
Welington Castillo’s a free agent?
Go get him, Rays!
great fit
Maybe the Snakes are about to sign Weiters or something. Only thing I can think of
Well does Mathis count lol.
I was just about to say. I was totally wrong. They signed mathis. hahahah
I thought Stewart was fired. Is he back?
haha perfect
Not surprised by Ruby being shown the door. A little bit by Castillo.
That is what I was thinking. RDLR’s health is definitely up in the air. He could end up missing all of 2017 & neither the RDLR nor the team will know until spring. Wellington is a bit of a surprise, but I think the team wants a better pitch framer along with wanting to get Hermann more ABs. Herman & Mathis will likely end up as a LH/RH platoon.
Wilson Ramos ?
And they wouldn’t think of putting obrien back behind the dish would they?
This org is so confusing.
If he’s willing to accept a backup role, Id like him as a fit for the Cards
I was going to say send him the ol stl way
Not too surprised on either. Ruby with the arm issues and Wellington on the money and defense.
Castillo to Colorado makes sense.
Willin Rosario 2.0
Braves fan here, so I hope we go after him but Castillo would hit 25-30hr playing for the Rockies. Makes a lot of sense if he signs a 1 or 2yr deal.
I was a little shocked about Castillo but it makes sense given his poor pitch framing. Mathis defensive metrics particularly pitch framing. The D-backs will have Pollock back and I think they are willing to give up a bit of offense with Castillo to improve their pitching staff which is the real problem.. I think it was not a bad move, unless the they didn’t explore trade options which I highly doubt.
Regardless of what direction the White Sox pursue this offseason they should have great interest in Wellington Castillo. He would be an immediate upgrade for the club behind the plate and in the lineup.
The White Sox top catching prospect is Zack Collins who is their overall #2 prospect but was just drafted this past June. He has an advanced college bat but needs work behind the plate and doesn’t figure to make his MLB debut until at least 2018. In addition, Castillo played for new White Sox manager Rick Renteria when he skippered the Cubs in 2014.
TB Rays should try to get Castillo. Offer him a fair contract with plenty of playing of time and both sides win.
Rays, Orioles, Mets, Angels, maybe? For Castillo.
Rays, Brewers, Indians
DeLaRosa will prob have to accept a minor league invitation or sit out 2017 until his arm issues are resolved. Castillo’s non-tender has to be bad news for Wieters (Scott Boras especially) and Ramos. With WAS landing Norris, Castillo will be another more affordable/viable option for teams with a serious need at C (ATL/NYM/CWS).
I wouldn’t mind the sox picking up Rubby.
Money aside, this seems like scapegoating for the collectively horrendous pitching last year.