The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization have signed former Marlins lefty Daniel Castano to a one-year contract, the team announced (English-language link via Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). He’ll earn $650K in guaranteed money between his salary and signing bonus, and he can take home another $200K via incentives.
Castano, 29, came to the Marlins alongside future stars Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen (later flipped to Arizona for Jazz Chisholm Jr.) in the trade that sent Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis. He’s appeared in each of the past four seasons with Miami, logging a total of 88 2/3 innings. Along the way, the former 19th-round pick has posted a 4.47 earned run average with a 12.4% strikeout rate that’s roughly half the league average and a solid 7.9% walk rate.
Castano has appeared in parts of three Triple-A seasons with the Marlins and produced generally similar run-prevention numbers, albeit with a much better strikeout rate. In 174 innings with Miami’s top affiliate in Jacksonville, he’s logged a 4.24 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. He’s expected to work as a starter with the Dinos, per general manager Sun-nam Lim.
The Marlins outrighted Castano off the 40-man roster in September, and he became a free agent following the season. He’d likely have been in line for a minor league deal were he to sign with an MLB organization, at which point he’d have earned at a prorated deal not far north of the MLB minimum for any time spent in the big leagues. The $650K guarantee alone should top what he might’ve made under that scenario, and the incentives give him further earning potential.
If things go well for Castano in the KBO, he could position himself to re-sign for a guarantee closer to seven figures next year, and with enough success he could draw interest from Japan’s NPB or even on a return to the big leagues. He only just turned 29 in September, so he’s still young enough to make his way back to North American ball in a few years, depending how he fares overseas.
만세
OIC – 한국어로도 씁니다.
Showoffs
Who would have thunk a team from North Carolina would be in the KBO??
I know you’re joking, but NC stands for their corporate owner NC soft a video game company.
Much like Samsung Lions, LG Twins etc.
Farewell, Italian stallion. You did good in Miami.
Yeah, he was nice organizational depth. I guess this is the moment he tries to work on some things, make a bit of better, guaranteed money, and see if he can come back as a better pitcher who can have a stable few years in MLB if he can turn himself as a regular backend SP on a MLB team.
I wish him the best and hope he can take advantage of the opportunity. It’ll be a solid test of his abilities. KBO baseball is fairly high-level, and a lot of those guys can flat-out hit.
Exactly, just like Erick Fedde did last offseason and now he’s taking $10 M home.
Always grateful with Castano for that game in the Bronx to clinch a playoff berth in 2020. He threw a gem that day after Ureña got hit by a line drive. That was amazing.
Good luck Daniel and I hope this opportunity is the start of even better things for you