Though recent reports had downplayed the possibility, the Orioles announced on Friday that they’ve signed free-agent backstop Welington Castillo to a one-year deal with an option for the 2018 season. That option is reportedly a player option, meaning Castillo will be guaranteed a total of $13MM but can opt out of the contract after the first season should he choose. The ACES client will earn $6MM in 2017 and $7MM in 2018 (if he opts into the second season of his deal).
Depending upon one’s perspective, then, that constitutes a two-year, $13MM pact with an opt-out after the first year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected he’d earn $5.9MM via arbitration before he was non-tendered by Arizona earlier in the offseason. Instead, he’ll get just north of that figure in 2017 while adding the security of the player option.
Assuming that the 29-year-old Castillo clears the Orioles’ medical check, he’ll step into the void left by fellow free agent Matt Wieters, who now seems all but certain to end up elsewhere. While it seems the contract will be framed as including a player option, it’s just the same as a two-year arrangement that includes an opt-out provision, as Baltimore will take the risk of a downturn in Castillo’s performance.
In Castillo, the Orioles will add one of the better power-hitting catchers in baseball. Since landing with the Diamondbacks in a mid-2015 trade, he has knocked 31 home runs in 760 plate appearances. Of course, the larger portion of the damage came in his first year in Arizona; Castillo fell back last year from a robust .216 isolated power mark to a roughly league-average level (.159).
Still, the overall offensive profile is a solid one for a receiver. All told, Castillo slashed .261/.320/.452 with the D-Backs. He does carry rather pronounced platoon splits, hammering lefties while operating at around a .700 OPS clip against same-handed pitchers. Presumptive reserve Caleb Joseph has more neutral numbers for his career, showing slightly more power against righties but reaching base much more frequently when operating without the platoon advantage.
While Castillo has brought more overall offensive production of late than the long-time starter he’ll replace, the O’s new leading man behind the dish isn’t much loved for his glove. StatCorner rated him as a slightly below-average framer last year, while Baseball Prospectus mostly panned his framing work. BP regarded his other measurable skills (blocking, throwing) at a roughly average rate.
Regardless of whether one prefers Castillo or Wieters, there’s no denying that the O’s will save some payroll space by taking this route — at least, that is, as against last year’s payout to Wieters, who accepted a $15.8MM qualifying offer. It remains to be seen what the 30-year-old switch hitter will end up with now that he’s a free agent for the first time, though the paucity of teams still seeking everyday options behind the plate does not necessarily bode well for any hopes of a large, lengthy contract.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported the agreement (Twitter links) as well as the financial details of the deal (also via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sweet
Nice signing. I’m excited about this!
what happend to wieters?
He’s a free agent and he’s regressing, makes sense the orioles would not want him
With Scott Boras as an agent, so likely playing him up and asking for a ridiculous amount of money and commitment
He sucks
Wieters may have to wait until spring training and hope somebody’s starting C gets injured. His market was shaky to begin with, but its all but turned to dust now.
1 year only? You’d think he would’ve been able to out earn wieters on the market
2 years 13MM with an opt out option on the second year. Weiters will probably get more, as he should.
Why should Wieters get more? What redeeming quality does he have over Castillo?
Interested to see the dollar figures here.
Good job O’s. Glad Wieters isn’t coming back.
You O fans might not want Wieters back, but us braves fans sure would like him. I like Recker and Flowers, but I would love it if Wieters could put a little more pop in our lineup. Boras is probably asking for to much, making the braves can get a deal on him.
You guys can have him. Look how much value Markakis added to Atlanta. Honestly one of the worst teams I’ve ever seen last year. Seriously. They were horrible. Seriously.
Markakis has provided just as much value as hes getting paid for. And Atlanta was actually semi-decent for the second half last year. I think I heard somewhere they had a better record than San Fran after the all star break
Everyone had a better record than San Fran lol. Not really, but they tanked pretty hard, wouldn’t be proud of that bullet point.
Markakis hasn’t really been a problem at all, as JFinasty noted. The main problems last year involved the revolving doors in left field and starting pitching, and having to trot out Aybar every day to at least build a marginal amount of trade value, all of which have essentially been addressed. They’re probably not going to be challenging for the pennant this year, but it’s very unlikely that they’ll end up with such a bad record this coming year.
Called a rebuild buddy. Markakis has been fine. Braves are on the up and were one of the best offensive teams in the season’s second half. Dad is from Baltimore, grew up respecting y’all’s franchise but who is to point fingers during a year when a team is not trying to compete? Wieters would be a huge upgrade from Flowers, who my grandmother could have stolen a base on.
I’m cool with Wieters leaving, I don’t think there’s much value there at this point in his career. On the other hand, however, I wish the O’s held onto Markakis. We miss that staple in RF and he would have led our team in OBP the past two seasons. A lot of people would say I’m crazy but I think he’s been one of the key missing pieces during our playoff pushes.
Markakis chose to go to Atlanta for 1 extra year and 10 million. His first year in Atlanta he hit THREE home runs. That is not enough for an outfielder making 11 million. He had one of his better RBI years in forever this past year The Orioles did not dump him. He CHOSE to leave
Home runs and rbis are not a good way to evaluate a player.
He didn’t leave for the money. He’s from the Atlanta area and grew up braves fan. He went home, I can respect that
Sounds like you’re really serious… seriously.
Castillo provides some power from the right side, which may only be helped by the dimensions of Camden Yards. Additionally, in 925 innings as a catcher last year he logged 7 total Defensive Runs Saved. So far in his career, he’s been an average offensive contributor, hovering around a 98 weighted runs created (wRC ). Good signing.
Since 2012 this man has averaged 2.2 WAR a season, a 4.3 WAR/162 games played and an above average (especially when you consider his position) .734 OPS over that span. This was a great get at a possible 13 million over 2 years. Makes me really hate what my Jays are paying for a significantly older, equal (if not worse) offensively, and probably equal (maybe slightly better) defender in Martin (due to his regression in 2016). 60 mil over the next 3 years for his age 34-36 seasons.
Martins paid to help the pitching staff (which he has done as you can tell by last years numbers),the offence is just a bonus!
I agree that up until this year Martin was helping the pitching staff but his framing numbers took a huge hit this year, he threw out 15% of runners (league average was 29%), and he had the worst Fangraphs Defensive value of any qualified catcher (3.2. For contrast Castillo for a 9.9).
Saying he’s averaged a 2.2 WAR since 2012 is incredibly misleading, considering he’s only posted above that average twice in that time frame, and one of those time was only barely eclipsing it. He’s a poor pitch framer and his defense is average and seems to come and go year to year.
Russell Martin is grossly overpaid though.
To say that it’s incredibly misleading is to misunderstand what an average means. The point isn’t whether or not he can eclipse that or even if he will be worse than that. The point is that he is historically somewhere around that number… He can be expected to provide around 2.2 WAR and his War numbers each season since 2012 (1.2, 4.5, 1.8, 1.1, 1.4, 2.4) tell that same story. He is, on average, around a 2.2 war and will likely be within the standard deviation of that barring something unforeseen.
First off you counted his 2015 WAR twice (overall WAR was 1.1 and his 2015 Arizona WAR was 1.4) His career WAR is grossly skewed by one huge outlier of a season. To say you can expect around a 2.2 WAR from him when he comes in at almost a full win lower three out of those five years is asinine.
Stop trying to sound like a smart ass with the standard deviation talk, you can’t grant someone with that low a WAR total +/- 1.2 WAR during a season, that’s a huge difference for a guy with Castillo’s normal WAR numbers.
Okay I apologize for putting down his 2015 war twice that was an honest mistake. His career wasn’t grossly skewed by that season though. Lets take a look at his war since 2014 (the season after the 4.5 war): His war/year was 1.7 (with the big year it was 2.2) and his war/162 was 3.2 (with the big year it was 4.3). Without that big year (not sure why you would completely discount it but i will for the sake of argument) his war per season was only 0.5 less. I would say that is “around” 2.2 and and that you can expect something like that from him. I think your use of the word asinine was hyperbole but if it wasn’t I think you should reconsider its use.
I’ll disregard that unnecessary personal shot and just focus on the content of your second paragraph. I would just like to point out that mathematically the standard deviation of Castillos WAR since 2012 was 1.39 therefore even if you think I was trying to look smart I was right. because his average was 2.2 and his lowest was 1.1 (difference of 1.1).
I’m not discounting that year, it’s just a huge outlier that is over two wins higher than any other year he’s been able to muster in his other six years. You can’t compare those averages while just negating his 2012 totals, at that point its essentially two different sets of data, His average over that time while taking out his outlier season is 1.6, which is perfectly inline with his career average of, 1.6. If you think 1.6 is “around” 2.2 in terms of WAR, there is no hyperbole, I think you’re foolish.
Well, mathematically the standard deviation of Castillo’s WAR since 2012 is 1.2, not 1.4 so no you were not right.
When someone’s WAR is as low as Castillo’s you cant just say he’s going to give you “around” a 2.2 WAR and call yourself correct when he gives you something almost a full Win lower just because it falls in his Standard Deviation frame. That’s the difference between a part-time bench player and a regular starter.
Well I guess we can just agree to disagree on this because I believe 1.6 is around 2.2 and even 1..6 is low because I took away his bad year.
You continue to take personal shots which means you’re losing this argument anyways but you should calculate it. The standard deviation is 1.39…
I’m not taking personal shots, I’m saying that your theory that he’ll accrue a 2.2WAR +/- 1.2 is a foolish statement considering you’re saying he could be highly effective starter level or an average bench player. Not to mention he’s only hit that number twice in seven years.. If that hurt your feelings you should probably develop thicker skin.
As for your math, it’s wrong, check your numbers:
5 points of data total 11 for an average of 2.2
the difference between his average and seasons calculated are -1, 2.3, -0.4, -1.1, and 0.2
square those: 1, 5.29, 0.16, 1.21, 0.04
this gives you a total of 7.7, divide that by 5, which gives you a variance of 1.54
Find the square root of the variance and you wind up with a a 1.2 standard deviation.
Enough with the sabermetrics; they’re irrelevant
Why are they irrelevant. This is how teams evaluate players… what could be more relevant than the methods that teams use to evaluate players.
How are sabermetrics irrelevant? They measure in-game activity beyond the scope of traditional stats. Not that we should completely abandon those measurements, but to say sabermetrics are irrelevant is a bit much.
I’m still confused why the dbacks couldn’t trade him and get something back in return. The dbacks also have depth at starting pitching after acquiring walker. Baltimore needs starting pitching. Why not offer a starting pitcher and Castillo for a relief pitcher. Corbin and Castillo for brach or o’day. Is that realistic?
The reason they couldn’t trade him is because despite the fact that teams (or at least baltimore) were willing to pay his modest ~6mm salary (exemplified by the fact that Baltimore is paying that and possibly double over 2 years) they weren’t inclined to give up anything of value to get Castillo. And Arizona evidently was ready to move on and didnt want to pay him the money he was owed. Now, i’m not sure if I agree with other teams devaluing Castillo so much but thats just my 2 cents on why Arizona made the decision that they did. While your trade scenario with Corbin makes a bit of sense I think Baltimore wouldn’t be any more inclined to trade for such a huge question mark and Castillo than just Castillo. I think it would have taken a better/more sure bet to peak Baltimores interest (say: Robbie Ray, although i’m not sure if Arizona does the trade in that case).
Perhaps not a blue chip prospect but I feel like the Diamondbacks could have gotten a lottery ticket type prospect out of the Orioles in exchange for not having to give Castillo a player option.
I agree i don’t understand that either.
Castillo definitely not not signing with the Orioles.
Baltimore fans will get excited about anything lol. Castillo for 2 for $13mil could’ve gotten Ramos for 2 for $12mil. GO RAYS
Except 2 years for Ramos is really only like one and a half.
Oh wow one and a half with a much better hitters and defender and he can’t opt out and make more money if he wants. And it’s only one month maybe 2 out of the season. That’s not half
Historically they have been equally as good at hitting. Not to mention the year before this one ramos had a .616 ops. And ramos also averages less War and War per/162 games played. Almost no way you could tell me that the ramos move was better especially because you dont even know when hes coming back…
He’s coming back in may or June. And I don’t care about his previous season he said LASIK surgery did wonders and his numbers showed. His chase rate was much much less and his numbers were great all around. So yes. The Ramos signing was much better than Castillo
I think your forgetting that this is an ACL injury that he got. It’s his second one. When he does return he quite possibly wont even be catching (at least this season). Based on that I think it’s irresponsible to overlook how bad his bat has been in the recent past. Also the Tampa Bay Times reported that he is a month ahead of his recovery but that even with that he likely wont be back until June or July. It could easily be more than half the season. They are not going to rely on him much this season anyways as they don’t have a chance in the division with the Boston and the Jays (and possibly NY) being much superior squads
I have a torn acl right now and I ride motocross still without surgery. Not a big deal and he knows how to rehab it already. And if you read up it says as early as May 1st. He expects to catch at least 60-80 games… this year. I can rely on his stats this year because he claims he can see the ball better and his number clearly showed it. Castillo just broke out as well. Not sure why you’re so reliant on him either. There is nothing anyone can inform me about the Rays, they are practically my life. I do research like a baseball nerd. And you’ll be surprised where we sit in this division with 2, 30 homer guys and young pitchers that can’t be any worse than they were last year. Don’t ever, ever, sleep on Tampa. I have learned many times
Hm do you mind sourcing the article that says May 1st. You may be right but I just want some proof. Castillo didn’t break out this year, in fact he’s hit pretty much the same every season of his career. And I agree that Ramos hit well this year just wont be sold on his transition to a premier hitting catcher until hes done it for more than one season. “There is nothing anyone can inform me about the rays” seems like somewhat of an ignorant pronouncement. I research baseball the same way trust me but I do it because I know I haven’t been informed maximally and I continue to research in the futile quest to know as much as a can but I never assume that I i know everything. I would say that Tampa is always a reasonably competitive team but they’ve fallen off since Friedman left and over the last 3 years have finished 4th or worse every year. I thin 2 30 HR guys and a young staff isn’t enough, especially the former. The jays had 6 guys hit 20 last year and the best Starting pitching in the AL and still only finished second.
Last time Ramos was coming off an ACL injury in 2014 he had an OPS+ of 91 and played 88 games in the season. Followed by an OPS+ of 66 in 2015. Significant drop-offs from his 3 pre-ACL injury years. To expect the same catcher to come back and produce immediately is likely going to lead to disappointment.
Furthermore the Ramos deal is for $12.5 million and has $5.75 million in incentives so if Ramos actually plays the deal will NOT have been for less per year.
$2-million raise in his 2018 salary (from $8.5M to $10.5M) based on starting 55 games at catcher in 2017.
$250,000 each for starting 60, 65, 70 and 75 games at catcher
$125,000 for 300 and 325 plate appearances
$250,000 for 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 475 and 500 plate appearances.
And in 2018, $250,000 for 450, 475 and 500 plate appearances.
Don’t know how you can compare motocross to catching everyday. I have torn my acl too and there is a lot you can do without it being repaired, motocross is one of them but to squat everyday and act like that type of injury is not a big deal is just foolish on your end.He may be back in May, as a DH. He wont be catching for at least half the year. The Rays will be in last again this year. Ramos was just a signing so they can flip in the off-season or trade deadline when healthy. Not sure you can act like Ramos is that much better then Castillo. Ramos finally had a break out year in a contract season. Hes not the first one to do that. No way he comes close to his numbers from last year and he is not a good defensive catcher.
Never said he was gonna come back and catch everyday. The plan is for him to dh first and then come back. I understand the incentives like I’ve said I research diligently all this stuff. But they aren’t easy incentives to get for him. Ramos is that much better than Castillo and I’m not sure how you claim he’s not a good defensive catcher if you just look at his numbers. He’s not Posey but he’s better than Castillo. Castillo has been an ok hitter great he hits home runs, but never been an average guy. Ramos like I said said the LASIK surgery he got allows him to see and read the ball much better. The chase % was over 20% lower. That doesn’t happen because you’re in a contract year. I’m not sure how you can say with a pitching staff like we have and the much better lineup we’ll have this year instead of all power and our defense is much upgraded, with Matt Duffy for a full year and Ramos in our lineup and Corey Dickerson now used to the league, this team filled the major holes. We have two more holes to fill with a couple spots in the pen and Lf. I don’t believe Ramos was signed to flip I think Ramos was signed because our FO was tired of having the worst catcher in the American League and they believe in their pitching staff. Even analysts say don’t ever sleep on the Rays. The numbers will never impress you but we know how to play.
History says he should lead the AL in homeruns in 2017.
Nelson Cruz.
Mark Trumbo.
Beef Castillo.
Also, Chris Davis.
Why didn’t the D’Backs tender him and then trade him!? If the Orioles were willing to give him that much money and a player option they would have traded the D’Backs like a pitcher in A-ball in order to control Castillo for one year at an arb salary.
The Orioles are paying him $6 mil while the Dbacks did not think he was worth $5.9 mil. I am not a fan. But I did like our Wieters. MLB taking out the blocking of the plate kinda took away a lot of his shine though. I was hoping they would offer Matt 3/$33 mil. Something solid but not break the bank.
But now they can go looking for a lead off hitter / RF. I am hoping for Revere. I think he would be a good fit for a bounce back season. Its Davis’ turn to be the HR champ again so lets get some guys on ahead of him.
Great get. I listened to an interview where Buck knocked the whole pitch framing metric. He said when you look at it the catchers who catch lower velocity staffs have better framing ratings. Not saying I agree one way or another but it makes sense as to why the O’s targeted Castillo and his subpar framing rating when Buck does value the metric. It does concern me that Greinke and Shelby regressed with Castillo behind the dish last year and the O’s counting on Gausman and Bundy to take another step but it looks like the O’s are continuing their plan to out mash the opponents for 6 innings and hand it to the BP
Doesn’t value the metric
He’s a good player. Only bad trade Theo made with the Cubs
What about trading DJ LeMehieu?
where were the mets on this guy?
Apparently they’re clinging to the hope that TDA gets good.
AL would be best suited for Wieters. Red Sox or Yankees will grab him. both are back to the arms race.
I doubt New stork would want to give to much money to be a backup. Boston does make a little sense though, since you don’t know what you’ll get out of any of their catchers