Royals Sign Ivan Castillo To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced yesterday that they’ve signed infielder Iván Castillo to a minor league contract. The 26-year-old had been outrighted off the Padres’ 40-man roster at the end of the season, making him eligible to sign a minors pact during the ongoing transactions freeze.
Castillo made an incredibly brief big league debut in 2021. He appeared in three games with San Diego in May, tallying a single and a walk over four plate appearances. The switch-hitter otherwise spent the entire season with the Friars’ top affiliate in El Paso, posting a .287/.326/.366 line with three home runs across 435 plate appearances in a hitter-friendly environment. While Castillo did well to put the ball in play — his 17.5% strikeout rate was well below the 22.6% MLB average — he didn’t draw many walks or hit for much extra-base impact.
That’s largely in line with Castillo’s overall track record in the minors. Listed at just 5’9″, 179 pounds, he doesn’t bring much raw power to the batter’s box. But he’s a quality contact hitter with ample experience at each of shortstop, second base and third base. Castillo, who has also spent time in the Indians’ and Blue Jays’ farm systems, was ranked by Baseball America as the #28 prospect in the San Diego organization entering 2021. He’ll presumably try to compete for a utility role in Kansas City next spring.
Padres Outright Five Players
The Padres have outrighted five players off their 40-man roster after they went unclaimed on waivers, according to the transactions page at MLB.com. Catcher Webster Rivas, outfielder Brian O’Grady, infielder Ivan Castillo, right-hander Miguel Diaz and left-hander Daniel Camarena have all been removed from the roster. All five are now eligible to become free agents.
The 26-year-old Diaz has the most major league experience of the bunch, having thrown 108 2/3 innings for the Padres over four different seasons from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, he logged 42 innings with an ERA of 3.64, healthy 26.7% strikeout rate but a high walk rate of 11%.
Camarena, turning 29 next month, only got into six games this season but cemented himself a place in Slam Diego lore by hitting a grand slam off Max Scherzer in July. His ERA at the big league level was 9.64, but in a small sample size of just 9 1/3 innings. In 83 1/3 Triple-A innings, his ERA was a much more palatable 4.75, despite a low strikeout rate of 16.9%.
Rivas, 31, got 77 plate appearances for the Friars this year and slashed .221/.303/.338 for a wRC+ of 80. His Triple-A numbers were a smidge better, as he hit .252/.339/.393 for a wRC+ of 83 over 186 plate appearances.
The 29-year-old O’Grady got 61 MLB plate appearances with a palty line of .157/.267/.333, but his Triple-A numbers were much better. Over 329 plate appearances for the Chihuahuas this year, he hit .281/.366/.547 for a wRC+ of 120.
Castillo, 26, only got four MLB plate appearances this season. At Triple-A, he got to the plate 435 times and hit .287/.326/.366 for a wRC+ of 73.
When factoring in these outrights, as well as players heading into free agency and players coming off the 60-day IL, the 40-man roster will be sitting at 38 when the offseason begins, in the estimation of Jason Martinez and Roster Resource. But the Padres have club options on Pierce Johnson and Craig Stammen that could get that number back up to 40, as well as mutual options with Jake Marisnick and Mark Melancon.
Padres Place Drew Pomeranz On 10-Day IL, Select Ivan Castillo
The Padres have placed reliever Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement and selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Ivan Castillo, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets.
This adds to a long history of injuries for Pomeranz, who spent time on the IL in 2020 – his first season of a four-year, $34MM contract – with a shoulder strain. Pomeranz more recently dealt with left forearm tightness during the spring, but he was ready to go when Opening Day arrived. Since then, he has continued to serve as an integral part of the Padres’ bullpen with a 1.98 ERA/2.98 SIERA and a strong 35.7 percent strikeout rate against a less impressive 12.5 percent walk rate over 13 2/3 frames. Additionally, Pomeranz ranks second on the team in holds (five), which will make him even more difficult to replace.
The injury to Pomeranz opens the door for the 25-year-old Castillo, who’s set for his big league debut. Castillo has already made his Triple-A debut this year and slashed an excellent .444/.516/.519 with two stolen bases across 31 plate appearances. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 5-foot-9 switch-hitter 34th in the Padres’ deep farm system earlier this week and wrote that “[h]e has fantastic feel for contact.” The question is whether that will transfer to the majors.