Headlines

  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Padres Re-Sign Jose Castillo, Webster Rivas

By Anthony Franco | January 14, 2022 at 11:00am CDT

The Padres have re-signed reliever José Castillo and catcher Webster Rivas to minor league contracts, according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Both players were cut from San Diego’s 40-man roster at the end of the season.

Castillo tossed 38 1/3 innings across 37 relief appearances for the Friars in 2018. He averaged 94.9 MPH on his fastball that year and posted excellent numbers, looking to be a high-leverage reliever in the making. Castillo worked to a 3.29 ERA with a huge 34.7% strikeout rate and a fine 8% walk percentage in his age-22 campaign.

Unfortunately, Castillo has barely pitched since then on account of a brutal run of injuries. The southpaw missed the first four months of the 2019 season due to a flexor tendon strain. He returned to make one MLB appearance, then suffered a season-ending hand ligament tear. Castillo missed the entire 2020 season dealing with a teres major strain, and ran into perhaps his greatest setback of all last March. Early in Spring Training, the Venezuela native went down with a forearm issue that necessitated Tommy John surgery.

Despite only making one big league appearance over the past three years, Castillo accrued enough service time while on the injured list to qualify for arbitration this offseason. The Friars non-tendered him rather than carry him on the 40-man roster all winter, but they apparently quickly worked to bring him back on a minor league deal. Given that he’s only ten months removed from the Tommy John procedure, the 26-year-old is probably targeting a midseason return to the mound.

Rivas, a 12-year minor league veteran, was rewarded for his persistence with a long-awaited MLB debut last May. The right-handed hitter got into 24 games, tallying 77 plate appearances in a reserve capacity behind the dish. Rivas spent more time with the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso, where he hit .252/.339/.393 with five home runs across 186 plate appearances.

San Diego outrighted Rivas off the 40-man roster at the end of the year. Presumably, he’ll get a chance to partake in big league Spring Training, although it seems likely he’ll open the season with El Paso. The Padres already have quite a bit of catching depth on the 40-man roster. Austin Nola looks like the #1 option if healthy, with Víctor Caratini, the recently-acquired Jorge Alfaro and top prospect Luis Campusano all competing for playing time.

Share 0 Retweet 16 Send via email0

San Diego Padres Transactions Jose Castillo Webster Rivas

Twins Sign Curtis Terry To Minors Deal
Main
Athletics Finalize Coaching Staff
View Comments (15)
Post a Comment

15 Comments

  1. Herc33

    3 years ago

    Glad they could keep Castillo. Even though he’s missed 3 straight seasons I still think there is solid upside considering he’s only 26.

    He was downright nasty in 2018. I remember thinking after that year that he was going to the silver lining to the unfortunate Wil Myers/Trea Turner trade and these injuries have just totally taken him out of commission. Hopefully he’s still got something in the tank.

    5
    Reply
    • Deleted Userr

      3 years ago

      He can’t do anything to tip the balance of the Myers trade anymore because the Padres non-tendered him. Still worth it on a minor league deal tho.

      Reply
      • Herc33

        3 years ago

        The ship sailed on the Myers/Turner swap years ago, it’s basically always been a loss. I meant that ~4 years ago when he had his debut, Castillo looked like a legit 8th inning option of the future. If he had become a lockdown setup man, that would have helped salvage some value, but obviously didn’t come to fruition.

        Reply
  2. Ron Tingley

    3 years ago

    Dude was throwing so hard even his own ligaments couldn’t hang.

    1
    Reply
    • RobM

      3 years ago

      That seems to be more and more a problem these days!

      1
      Reply
  3. iverbure

    3 years ago

    I don’t really have a solution but the PA should be fighting for RP harder. Many of the problems within the game begin with the amount of nameless RP who all throw 95-97. Slows game game, offence isn’t lowered because guys only see these guys once and then regardless of how they do over 3 days they’re sent down to bring up a fresh arm, rinse and repeat.

    Mlbpa should be fighting for it because inevitably those changes will help SP get paid more because the ones able to pitch more innings and be effective will be even more valuable

    Somehow force teams to keep affective RP on the roster instead of using 12-14 RP taxi squad.

    2
    Reply
  4. VegasSDfan

    3 years ago

    Castillo, another pitcher that could have been great. Does anyone expect him to pitch at the ML level again?

    3
    Reply
    • SDHotDawg

      3 years ago

      Nope. Maybe a cup of coffee, or as another “wtf” Preller call up.

      1
      Reply
    • SDHotDawg

      3 years ago

      Another pitcher that “could have been great.” Do you remember their names? Neither do I.
      😉

      Reply
  5. Dorothy_Mantooth

    3 years ago

    With the lack of catching depth across MLB, I’m surprised Rivas chose to re-sign with San Diego given their surplus of major league-ready catchers already on the roster. Maybe SD is getting ready to trade some of their catching depth once the lockout is over?

    1
    Reply
    • bbatardo

      3 years ago

      They gave him his first shot in the majors and he is familiar with the staff. Perhaps that had something to do with it?

      1
      Reply
    • Herc33

      3 years ago

      I don’t see how they do it from a roster construction perspective with Nola, Alfaro, Caratini, and Campusano. They can stash Campusano in AAA for a bit but he’s got the highest upside, Alfaro is out of options, Nola is the presumptive starter, and Caratini is Darvish’s personal catcher and a decent backup.

      It’s not like they have 2 of that group they can clearly put in AAA. Someone is probably on the move and then Rivas backs up in AAA.

      1
      Reply
    • SDHotDawg

      3 years ago

      I’m still trying to figure out why Preller got Alfaro. He’s not very good, and he’s out of options. Preller’s too stubborn to release guys with no options, so …

      1
      Reply
  6. Jeff Zanghi

    3 years ago

    If healthy (granted a big IF) Castillo seems like he could turn into a steal. I’m surprised no other teams were there to snatch him up with a major league contract… though of course the lockout could’ve prevented that and he just decided to take the ml guarantee. In normal conditions though a guy who’s going to start on the DL and then work his way back on a rehab assignment… with the minor league track record Castillo has could’ve at times prompted a team to take a ML flier.

    Reply
  7. Brew’88

    3 years ago

    Surprised another team didn’t grab him. Low risk for big upside, but big IF on his health

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

Astros Promote Brice Matthews

Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Bobby Jenks Passes Away

Braves Release Alex Verdugo

Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

Rangers Option Josh Jung

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

Braves Select Wander Suero

White Sox Acquire Blake Sabol

Orioles Designate Corbin Martin For Assignment

Royals Receiving Interest In Catching Prospects

J.C. Escarra Drawing Trade Attention

Cristian Javier Begins Rehab Assignment

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In DJ LeMahieu

Rafael Devers Suffering From Disk Injury In Lower Back

Mets’ Dedniel Nunez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Trade Deadline Outlook: Seattle Mariners

MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
  • Luis Robert Rumors
  • Alex Bregman Rumors

 

Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

MLBTR Features

MLBTR Features

  • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
  • Front Office Originals
  • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
  • MLBTR Podcast
  • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
  • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
  • Contract Tracker
  • Transaction Tracker
  • Extension Tracker
  • Agency Database
  • MLBTR On Twitter
  • MLBTR On Facebook
  • Team Facebook Pages
  • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

Rumors By Team

  • Angels Rumors
  • Astros Rumors
  • Athletics Rumors
  • Blue Jays Rumors
  • Braves Rumors
  • Brewers Rumors
  • Cardinals Rumors
  • Cubs Rumors
  • Diamondbacks Rumors
  • Dodgers Rumors
  • Giants Rumors
  • Guardians Rumors
  • Mariners Rumors
  • Marlins Rumors
  • Mets Rumors
  • Nationals Rumors
  • Orioles Rumors
  • Padres Rumors
  • Phillies Rumors
  • Pirates Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Rays Rumors
  • Red Sox Rumors
  • Reds Rumors
  • Rockies Rumors
  • Royals Rumors
  • Tigers Rumors
  • Twins Rumors
  • White Sox Rumors
  • Yankees Rumors

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives
  • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

MLBTR INFO

  • Advertise
  • About
  • Commenting Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version