The Nationals signed former Red Sox outfielder and one-time top prospect Rusney Castillo to a minor league deal earlier this month. The 34-year-old Cuban defector, who spent 2021 playing for NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Goldean Eagles, will most likely begin the season with Triple-A Rochester but could be given a chance to compete for a bench role.
Castillo signed a seven-year, $72.5MM deal with the Red Sox in 2014 after Major League Baseball declared him a free agent, but he never lived up to the lofty expectations that followed. After posting an impressive .333/.400/.528 line in a ten-game cameo to close the 2014 season, the toolsy outfielder opened 2015 with Triple-A Pawtucket, appearing in 80 major league games after a late-May call-up. Though he played sparkling defense in Fenway Park’s atypical outfield, logging 14 Defensive Runs Saved across all three spots, he struggled to get on base and to hit for power, notching only 5 home runs and 13 walks in 289 trips to the plate on the way to a .253/.288/.359 overall line. For his career, Castillo sports a .262/.301/.370 triple-slash in 337 plate appearances across three seasons.
Following a brief stint in the bigs, the Red Sox placed Castillo on waivers in June 2016, outrighting him to the PawSox after he went unclaimed. The outfielder played out the remainder of his contract there, posting a palatable .293/.335/.425 line across parts of five seasons, but was never given another shot to hack it in Boston.
With the rebuilding Nationals’ outfield in a state of flux, Castillo could get the chance to log some time in the bigs in 2022. Despite struggling to a .225/.276/.282 line in Japan’s top division in 2021, he’ll look to compete for a role in an outfield mix that currently includes Yadiel Hernandez, Lane Thomas, Andrew Stevenson, Donovan Casey, and former top prospect Victor Robles alongside all-world right fielder Juan Soto — though an additional spot could open up should the new CBA include a universal DH and the Washington brass seek to lessen Soto’s injury risk by keeping him off the field. Fans should expect the Nats to bring in another minor league free agent or two to join the competition before Spring Training arrives, whenever that may be.
‘Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time’
Good for him. Hoping he gets a real shot. Everyone in his position would have signed that deal. MLB screwed him (not financially but every other way) when they changed the rules and it allowed the Sox to avoid paying luxury taxes by keeping him in the minors. His situation was more or less unique and he should have been exempt. Such would have given Boston an unfair advantage but was it right that he got paid but lost the opportunity to play in the majors for all those years?
I agree. Good for him, hope he does something. He got railroaded by something out of his control and they offered the contract he signed. It is what it is, at least he got paid to be in AAA all those years..
I don’t see how you do one without the other. You can’t let the team keep him on the roster and not have it count for luxury tax purposes. Red Sox made the smartest move at the time.
Well he wasn’t that bad but certainly would have been on Boston’s major league team if he performed better. A lot is on him to perform.
Pendeoia- A low OBP and very little power is not a very productive player, and as you said if Rusney had performed, then he would have been in Boston.
They knew he was not a power hitter when they signed him. Some times it takes a couple of years to develop (never mind get used to a new country). Although Boston benefited, they should not have. Without that rule, he would have had a real opportunity which is what he signed for.
I would be very happy to accept $72,500,000 to play in AAA as I am sure he was. Dewey, cry for the less fortunate, because that is not Rusney Castillo.
dewey – In all fairness, Rusney valued the money more than playing in the majors. If he felt his career and future earning potential was being hurt by that contract, he could have agreed to rip it up. There’s no doubt the Red Sox would have happily accepted that decision.
It’s no different than any employee who has a good paying job. You take the good (money) with the bad (working conditions), and you can always choose to end the employee/employer relationship when you’re on a contract if your employer agrees.
Gmen – I wrote about Rusney just yesterday in the Suzuki comments. I said if my team was willing to spend $72.5M on a player who never played a single MLB game, then Suzuki could very well get $75M.
Castillo played nearly 100 MLB games for Boston from 2014-2016
Spaghetti against the wall…..
There was an article the other day, five worst contracts in Red Sox history. Before reading the article I correctly guessed 4 out of 5. I had completely forgotten Rusney Castillo existed.
I saw him play in Pawtucket many times. Nothing more than warning track power. He should go to church everyday and thank God for the worst contract e-vah (as we say in Boston lol)
Not even close to being the worst. Crawford and Price, 1 and 2. Panda an easy third. One year out of Hanley would be up there with Castillo. I would also say the Agon deal since he never wanted to play on the east coast and such should have been known beforehand. I know there Are others, I just can’t think of them. The truth is Castillo was never thought of as a power hitter. He was projected to play solid defense anywhere in the outfield with decent speed and hopefully a .300 hitter. He didn’t shine at the beginning but never got another chance after the rules changed
Warning track power to left plays in Fenway. It’s a homer or double off the monster
Price, Panda, Hanley, Castillo, JD Drew?
JD Drew gets a pass for his playoff heroics against Cleveland, the same way Benny can’t be considered a bust due to his catch against the Astros.
Drew had one good game, that’s it. He was an average player, took too many pitches.
Jack Clark had to of been one!
Good for him. It was such a
Crummy situation that his contract became such an albatross for the Red Sox…
Agree. He would have returned to the majors years ago except for the CB changes.
What changes?
Under the old CBA….only the salaries of players on the 40-man roster counted toward the luxury tax. That included guys who were on the 40 man roster and then outright off.
However once a new CBA went into effect in 2017….that outright loophole was closed. For the Red Sox, this became a huge problem cause Castillo huge contract was grandfathered in and therefore didnt count against their luxury tax.
Mind you from 2015 – 2019….they were perennial luxury tax offenders. If they ever promoted him his salary would have made their situation even worse.
Nice summary. I HATE IT WHEN SOMEONE DOES IT BETTER TGAN I could…Thank you.
The Red Sox (Ben Cherington) wasted millions on bad contracts: Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Allen Craig, Rusney Castillo….
He deserved to get fired. The World Series in 2013 was great and unexpected, but 2012, 2014, 2015 last place finishes make Cherington’s overall grade a D in my book, and the Ramirez, Rusney, Sandoval, and Craig contracts hurt the team long after he was fired.
I went to a PawSox game in 2015 or 2016 and the top three batting order in that game was Rusney Castillo leading off, Allen Craig hitting second and Hanley Ramirez (must have been a rehab assignment) batting third.
Combined salary for those 3 was 44 million and they were hitting 1,2,3 in a AAA game. For comparison, the Brewers had the lowest payroll that year at 63 million for their entire team.
Allen Craig was a hopeful turnaround project and a disappointment but he came with Joe Kelly who at the time was a big time need with that 100 mph arm.
Hanley actually wasn’t a bad deal. He had a great year. And considering franchises go decades without ever competing, it doesn’t matter what Cherington did outside of the 2013 WS. Also, he couldn’t have hurt them that poorly, they won again only 5 years later. Also, Craig was hurt. The cards knew it and never said anything. Teams are supposed to disclose medical info. I believe they were fined for it. Obviously Sandoval was one of the worst ever. But every GM makes good and bad deals. But not many are part of numerous world series. Was Cherington tye greatest ever? No. Was he a D? That’s just absurd
Hanley had 1 good year in 4, and he was released early in the season his last year! He was terrible in 3 of 4 years. You might think that is good, but I absolutely do not.
2012 was of Larry Luchino, but Cherington did a horrible job looking at his entire body of work. If you want to focus only on 2013 fine by me. Cherington did NOT trade away a GREAT group of prospects which I give him a lot of credit for the 2018 WS, but again he could have done a much better job and I believe a D is not unfair. You can have your own opinion, but mine stands.
What about Theo’s Renteria, Lugo, overpaying JD Drew, Wade Miller, Matt Clement… he made some very bad deals too.
Both Cherington and Epstein were overrun by upper management.
That I agree with. Epstein was young and there was no way he had final say on big money deals.
Clement was great until he took a line drive off his noggin.
PawSox legend!
2 HOF statues down from Blake Swihart….or is that “busts”……?
Castillo is 34 already?
So they say, that’s probably not even his correct age.
The only ones with guaranteed jobs should be Soto and Bell as of right now.
Use Rusney in RF, Soto back to LF and Robles in CF. The other Cuban guy can DH.
I don’t know about that. Soto is better in RF, which is his natural position. “The other Cuban guy” is Hernandez and he could definitely be a good DH but as of right now he can platoon with Thomas in LF if they want Robles in CF. If it’s not Robles in CF, it’s going to be Thomas but don’t forget about the best pinch hitter in the league, Andrew Stevenson before considering Castillo a bench guy or starter.
You’re kind of out on a limb if your starting RFr is a 34 year old with no prior MLB success playing in the league for the first time in years.
Washington has no 2022 expectations. If he plays and does well, he can be flipped to a team then in need. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Boston doesn’t get that big time bat we expect, JBJ starts in right but then the Sox trade for Castillo?
Even so, there have to be better players to bet on than a super long shot pseudo-reclamation project. Rusney is an interesting story, but a terrible bet for your everyday left fielder. The chances of him being good enough to start let alone bring back something in a trade are really, really small.
He probably ends up in the minors but it would be nice to see him in a Boston jersey during another playoff run. Win-win.
He couldn’t hit at all in Japan and now he’s going to be expected to hit NL East pitching? Of course it’s a depth signing and maybe he figures it out, but that’s tough!!
Bobsugar- you are correct that he did not hit in Japan, so why would anyone think he can hit in the MLB. Rusney is AAA roster filler. Someone needs to play in those AAA games, and obviously there are plenty of AAA players who are not considered “prospects”.
Castillo had one of the weirdest circumstances that kept him in the minors: “In June 2016, Boston outrighted Castillo to Triple A, a move that also helped the team’s bottom line: Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, only the salaries of players on the 40-man roster counted toward the luxury tax. By removing Castillo’s $10.5 million from that total and keeping him down for the season, the Red Sox, who were over the tax threshold and facing a 30% penalty, saved roughly $3 million.”
Yeah, Castillo might have deserved to be in the majors for longer based on his talent, but his high salary kept him in the minors.
I remember reading that when he played for Pawtucket,he still lived in Boston, as he continued to see himself as a major leaguer. He won’t be able to do that if the Nationals assigne him to AAA Rochester.
I had real hope for Stevenson coming out of LSU, and seeing him play plenty of times. To say he’s been a major disappointment is an understatement. I’m intrigued to see if Lane Thomas is finally going to live up to what he was supposed to be or if the Cardinals knew it was short lived. And, I guess there were worse places Castillo could’ve gone, but can’t believe he’s 34!!!
He might have gotten another call up to Boston but he was off the 40 man roster and if they put him back on they would have to add his $10m salary to the payroll.
Congratulations to Rusney! Seriously, the best player in PawSox history.
Duffys – Rusney may have been the longest tenured play in PawSox history, but certainly not the best! Betts,Boggs, Lynn, Rice, Clemens…were all better in Pawtucket.
They are all great Red Sox players, but most spent hardly any time in Pawtucket, one season or less. Only really Boggs and Rice spent a considerable amount of time there…and I will give you that they had great seasons there.
Still can’t believe the team is now in Wooster. Sad how the Sox abandoned the City and State of RI. Typical though for ownership. I root for the uniform now.
Had Pawtucket updated their stadium the Pawtucket Red Sox might have stayed. There are teams that should move like the Pirates.
I bet you did not know that the Oriels franchise won its first World Series while residing in St. Louis (no not the Cardinals before the Cardinals), or that the A’s were in Philadelphia two cities ago. Teams move and more should…
Hits lightly, with no power, but can play all three outfield spots. This move fills out the split-squads for spring training, but this is more like summer camp for Rico-Rusney. Expect he’ll play his usual mediocre ball and be back in the Japan Pacific League for their opening in April. Perhaps he could act as a Spanish to Japanese interpreter for the MLB..
It’s a shame that more wasn’t said of what the Red Sox did to this guy. Based on talent, he deserved more of a shot at the MLB level. I used to watch him play a lot when he was with the PawSox. He got paid but the Red Sox keeping him at AAA to stay below the luxury tax was criminal.
A victim of circumstance for sure but like the rest of us, if he did not like his employer or work situation, he could have quit and signed a new contract with another team. And like the rest of us, it was tough to walk away from that kind of guaranteed money.
A player can’t just quit a contract and sign another one.
Yeah. That’s now how contracts work.
I don’t understand why the RS never gave him a full season to prove himself. His career average was .262, with 7 HRs in 317 ABs (13 per 600 ABs) with some defense. And a career bWAR/650 PAs.of 3.1.
He’d have been overpaid, but there is nothing in his MLB ABs that suggests he was doomed. I understand the tax angle, but they spent $20M or so to replace Castillo with Hanley. It just feels like they were more interested in gaming the system than looking at the big picture.
They wanted Hanley so they did not have the cap space for Rusney and frankly he was a replacement level player based on his AAA numbers. Also, remember Cherington got fired for essentially signing Rusney, Sandoval and Hanley.
His minor league stats are pretty unimpressive. It’s entirely possible that the Red Sox just didn’t like what they were seeing there.
It was the money plain and simple. One day in the 40 man roster and the contract was permanently part of the tax equation
2014 was a mess after trading Lester, the last place finish, the “beer and chicken scandal”,…. The Red Sox wanted to make a splash with the Hanley Ramirez and Pedro Sandoval signings. It was more like a belly flop. I do not know if Cherington picked those two or was told Toby management, but it was a bad move. Hanley had a much better career BA, OBP, OPS,…., so Rusney was cast aside. Hanley looked better on paper, but certainly not in the field as 2015 was a nightmare for Hanley and Red Sox fans watching him.
Mike – Rusney could have ask for his release the last year, but chose to stay and make $13,000,000 instead of betting on himself making another MLB team. If I were Rusney I would have made the same choice.
Everyone would have. it just wasn’t right he had no chance in prior years.
I wanted to be treated as unfairly as Rusney!!! I would gladly play in Pawtucket (now Worcester) for $72,500,000 !!!! I would love, love, love to be treated so, so, so unfairly!!!!!!
Reminds me of what the Yankees did with Kei Igawa. Although not a luxury tax issue he spent his last three years completely in the minors.
Rizzo all of a sudden grabbing whatever former Red Sox he can find. First Mueller and Crisp on the coaching staff and now Castillo?
At 34 and stinking up the JPL? OK. Castillo was nothing more of being at the right time, right place. MLB teams at the time were throwing away insane amounts of money on Cuban players. While for such a small island, the amount of good to great players is unreal, the list of crappy millions during that span of players signed is long. At least Thomas hit .280/30 HR for the Diamondbacks. Although that 3B defense must of been terrible that the outfield couldn’t save him from the minors. I think after the Dodgers dumped big money on Alex Guerrero and Aurrabeana or whatever his name was, lesson learned
Such a unique path. Good luck, RC.
what s terrible deal for the red Sox haha
I wanted to be treated as unfairly as Rusney! I would gladly play in Pawtucket (now Worcester) for $72,500,000 !!!!!!!!! I would love to be treated so unfairly!!!!!!
He looks like someone who has some skeletons in his closet
He’s never gotten a chance.
The Pride of Pawtucket
Even as a Yankee fan I was intrigued about how he’d play, and if he’d be a Yankee killer. Never got an actual shot and I hope he makes the Nats out of camp
$72,500,000.00
Wow. Wonder how much he has left
If he invested normally, much less wisely, he should have a lot more.