The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Anthony Castro off waivers from the Tigers, per an announcement out of Detroit. The move drops the Tigers’ 40-man roster down to 39 players. Toronto has also claimed fellow righty Walker Lockett from the Mariners, according to Seattle. The Jays now have a full 40-man roster.
Castro, 25, made his Major League debut with the Tigers this past season, albeit pitching in just one inning with a pair of runs allowed. Scouting reports on Castro tout his plus fastball and a potentially plus slider, but his command (or lack thereof) has proven a notable issue to this point in his pro career. Castro has 112 1/3 innings under his belt at the Double-A level but has issued 77 walks in that time. He logged a more palatable 3.3 BB/9 in 116 2/3 innings at Class-A Advanced in 2018, but he also plunked a dozen batters in that time
Castro had Tommy John surgery in 2015, wiping out that entire season for him in addition to part of the 2016 campaign. The Tigers have used him primarily as a starter, but as FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen pointed out in his scouting report last year, there’s some belief that he could maintain a heater in the upper 90s with that promising slider if used in a short relief role. It’s not clear how the Jays plan to utilize Castro, but he has a pair of minor league options remaining, so they can be patient with him if they keep him on the roster into the 2021 season.
Lockett was a waiver claim from the Mets on Sept. 1, but the 26-year-old didn’t last long in Seattle. He did throw 8 1/3 innings of four-run ball in the Mariners’ uniform, but that wasn’t enough to convince the club to retain him. Before his short Mariners tenure, Lockett – a fourth-round pick of the Padres in 2012 – had difficulty as a swingman with the Pads and the Mets. So far, Lockett has pitched to a 7.67 ERA/5.91 FIP with 6.5 K/9 and 3.33 BB/9 in 54 innings in the bigs.
Sign Springer already!
No thanks. Soon-to-be corner outfielder with his best days behind him.
Enjoy signing a cheater :P
That wasn’t the point…
If you look at his home/road splits, you can see he doesn’t need to cheat to be good. His road numbers were actually better than home numbers in 2017, which was the season of the garbage can. No reason he wouldn’t be excellent in Toronto.
I like Springer, but I’m concerned he is too far ahead (age-wise) of the young guys. Why pay him that kind of money to lead the club to a better sub-.500 record? I’d rather sign Kim from Korea at age 25.
Umm…did you watch the team last year? This is not a sub-.500 club anymore. This is a club that with a few more pieces, is ready to win now. To do that, you need guys like Springer.
Most non-bluejay fans have no clue about the team
I appreciate your optimism, but I think the club is more than a year away from contention, even with Springer.
And, yes, I saw the club last year. The bigger question is, did you???
For Love – from a position of dire need I would be looking at a Kim. Springer is fine if you can unload Grichuk, and slide Springer to the corner once Martin is ready. Springer may be wanted but not needed. Starting Pitching definitely needed.
Ya, they’re 1 good pitcher and 1 innings eater, a Lefty reliever and 1 good premium position player away from being up there with the best teams in the game
How does Ryan Carpenter, Verhagen, Matt Hall, and others get ample time to prove themselves?? And this guy gets only 1 inning. WTH Tigers! Waiving Castro over non-tendering Schreiber and Funkhouser amongst others, makes zero sense to me
Sounds like he’s primed for a move to the bullpen, which makes him a little intriguing if his fastball is good.
If I had a dime for every hard thrower with command issues, I’d be in the one percent!
I presume the Tigers must have identified someone more promising to take in the Rule 5 draft and needed the space.
Highly likely they have. The question will be if that player will be there when they pick. But they have to have an open roster spot to make a pick. Now they do.
I would have kept somehow because he finds the plate you got yourself a gem.
2 options remaining so if they see something they can work with, no problem.
Always liked Castro, but nearing 26 and never pitching above AA makes it hard to hold onto him especially with all the young pitching talent the Tigers have. Good Luck Anthony!
CASTRO relocating to Canada !!
Alright it’s not hard to talk yourself into Castro but Lockett just seems like a warm body. Hopefully he’s the 40th guy on the roster.
I believe that is Derek Fisher?
Would have rather protected Winckowski or Maximo Castillo over Lockett. Castro is understandable. Million dollar arm.
A million dollars these days would buy you a marginal journeyman middle reliever, so it’s an apt description.
It’s an accurate description but thanks.
More dumpster diving by the Jays. Think about it for a minute. Would a championship team have these two guys on the 40 man? No they wouldn’t. What a joke.
For weeks we hear about the BlueJays supposedly interested in elite talent and now the first move is we see Atkins bent over a dumpster hauling out more cast offs. Unbelievable.
The 1993 World Champion Blue Jays roster included such names as Scott Brow, Huck Flener, Doug Linton, Willie Cañate, Turner Ward, Darnell Coles, Rob Butler, Domingo Cedeño and Domingo Martínez. And that’s just the 25 man roster, not the 40, which doubtless had names that never saw a day in the majors.
So, yes. It would.
Jimmers faux outrage didn’t take into account that all 30 teams have players like this on their rosters.
Coles was a utility OF and RH bat. Most of the others were homegrown prospects. Awful comparison.
You’re right about everyone but Darnell Coles. He was once a regular infielder for the Mariners in the late 1980’s. Everyone else on your list was a scrub.
2018 WS MVP was Steve Pearce!
2017 WS Champion Astros had Derek Fisher!
2016 WS Champion Cubs had Chris Coghlan!
Even winning teams dumpster dive a bit.
The Jays talk like they will dumpster dive less this year.
The key is strong enough pitching to get away with the dumpster dives.
These moves feel like the Jays will wait until later in the offseason to make additions as injuries or possibly trades free up spots on the 40 man roster. Doesn’t seem like any rule 5 pickups are likely.
Pearce was a lethal hitter against lefties.
Fisher was a homegrown talent.
Coghlan was coming off a career year in 2015.
You used 3 examples and none of them worked. None of them were considered dumpster diving. Bad comparison.
Apologies.
Forgot Pearce became lethal away from the Jays.
Trying a guy that couldn’t stay on the field is a dumpster dive to me.
I really just wanted to see you call Fisher a talent.
haha jk.
Coghlan was flipped (not a pun on his baserunning I swear) to the A’s and did so bad they couldn’t send him back fast enough?
Wanted to highlight Jays duds that were part of team greatness elsewhere mainly.
Sticking to baseball dictionary eligible dumpster dive cases, it’s all about the 2019 Nats. Rodney, Parra, Asdrubal. Oh my.
That’s not even mentioning the ones that didn’t crack the roster.
Am I doing better? Should I go watch more Big Bang Theory instead?
Remember when you said Fisher was a homegrown talent? Bhahah.
In 2017 he was considered that in Houston.
The names you mentioned for Washington weren’t considered dumpster diving either.
They were all released by other teams before Washington signed them that season. Looks like a dumpster, smells like a dumpster.
Not the same thing, at all. These pickups by the Nats were done after the trade deadline. A very big difference between the deadline and off-season. These players were major league talents that could not be traded. No different than Galvis with the Blue Jays. I guess you thought Galvis was dumpster diving also based on your logic.
Are you sure about that?
Parra and Rodney were before deadline.
The guys that get released by teams in May are definition of bottom barrel.
Clearing waivers and then being signed by teams as free agents.
Asdrubal was a sneaky post deadline add. Still a guy nobody wanted to even give a lottery ticket Steve Pearce type offer for.
Galvis was a bit of a dive signing, not quite dumpster variety.
Bit closer to dumpster when the Reds claimed him, but the added year kept him more on the side of the dumpster.
Sogard was a dumpster dive. And a good one. Shocked me. Minor league spring signings sometimes aren’t total trash.
Every championship team has depth players that appear sometime in the majors during their championship run.
Jimmer… not there first move of the off-season. Be patient, no said it would be their last either. These guys are available because of the Rule-5 draft. They can always throw them back if a bigger player is signed.
Castro can still be a real gem if he finds a plate and his arm strength comes back. Not too many pitchers can throw a 96 m.p.h cutter and a slider drops like a ball rolling off the end of the table. He can throw his heater up to 99 in previous seasons.. He also has a good change-up.
@jimmertee…..stop being a troll. I’d think that you did a knee-jerk comment, but you added a second paragraph. Maybe you’re just a jackass? Idk…..
Never seen you here before. Welcome. But you took a big swing and didn’t actually reply directly. And your comment is considered trolling.
Looking forward to seeing baseball takes from you.
With an open spot on the 40, I’m guessing they have a guy picked out in the Rule 5. If he’s not there I see the Tigers grabbing a middling FA.
Haven’t seen who the Rule 5 pitchers might be. Would think that’s what the Tigers are eyeing. A Rule 5 bat doesn’t seem likely.
The Jays are in on every free agent and this is who they sign? Atkins is a tool.
So you’ll take that back when Atkins makes other moves this off-season to improve the team and give credit where credit is due? You’re acting as if waiver claims are the only thing he will do.
We will find out. Track record says that is iffy. But one question is, why non-tender AJ Cole and pick up Lockett?
Classic Shatkins offseason so far. They get the fan base excited about BlueBlood Streakhouse, but then they order mac & cheese and ham & eggs. Meanwhile the tables around them start to dig in to their filets and porterhouses, ie. Lance Lynn for $8 million to plug into the ChiSox rotation behind Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel.
Yes, 1 year of Lance Lynn at the cost of a young cheap competent arm. Porterhouse!? Lol! It’s only the second day of winter meeting! Blue Jays would had to given up a guy like Manoah + for Lynn. I fail to see the worth, especially emerging from a 2020 resuscitating season!
I imagine the Blue Jays would had to give up Manoah and Murphy for similar trade value. I don’t think 1 year of Lynn is worth that. He’s more like Salisbury steak. Hahah
I think he meant perennial Cy Young candidate Robbie Ray and downed too much Canadian Club before making the comment.
?
Ray got the $8-mil. Lance Lynn did not.
Lynn is getting $8m this year too. But Chicago also had to pay in a pretty well regarded prospect who has already debuted +.
Well dang! I thought Lynn was making more.