Orioles Officially sign Catcher Welington Castillo

[ISU94]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Over his career he has rated toward the very bottom in both pitch framing and sequencing.  So worse than Wieters in two areas the OH had the most issue with.

Wieters isnt much better in those departments. Maybe marginally. Castillo has a better bat. Ill take Castillo all day, especially at a way cheaper price than Wieters.

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

I LOVE this move. Just love it. He also apparently hits lefties really well, which is nice because as a team we don't. If we can nab us a decent fielding/average hitting OF, and some combo of Trumbo/Alvarez/Carter for DH, I'll feel pretty good about our playoff chances once again this year. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

Half of Wieters' price, only one year, probably 90% of Wieters' production. He's essentially the stop-gap to Cisco, who gets a year to work on his defense in AAA. If he takes the option, we can always get rid of Joseph in 2018. I really like this move. We aren't sinking the money into the catcher, but have it available for a RF. Mancini can DH.

[Can_of_corn]

In a shocking turn of events, Fangraphs are not fans of Castillo.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/welington-castillo-isnt-the-orioles-best-catcher/

 

Quote

Using the Baseball Prospectus data, I’ve also calculated fielding performance over the past three years, per 450 plate appearances. We get Castillo at -11.6 runs. And Joseph? He’s at +20.0. Joseph doesn’t hit much; he’s maybe 15 runs worse than Castillo is. But Castillo doesn’t field much; he’s maybe 30 runs worse than Joseph is. We’re not arguing over narrow differences here. We’re not even arguing! The case is made. Joseph’s defensive advantage is something like twice as significant as Castillo’s edge at the plate. Joseph has been a phenomenal catcher, and it stands to reason a staff like Baltimore’s could use that.

 

 

[crissfan172]

Nice, cheap stop-gap until Sisco is ready. Really good deal with little to no downside. 

Ideally, all that's left now is to either get a legitimate RF that can play defense and get on base...or get a cheap, defense-only RF and try to woo Encarnacion. Of course...I suspect we'll probably end up with something a little less than ideal. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Guess this means either Joseph or Pena will be DFA'ed soon. Already have Perez and Sisco in AAA, unless they are going to have Sisco work in the outfield.

I'm really shocked that this deal got done, based on what was going on lately (atleast, what was reported.) Good deal for the Orioles though.

[sportsfan8703]

27 minutes ago, OrioleDog said:

Remember how every medium good pitcher wanted to go to Petco for a big year.  We are that for HR/RBI guys, and he's another classic in that category.

 

 

Agreed.  That could be a big selling point to hitters.  Trumbo, Cruz and Alvarez(somewhat) have been able to come in and have career years in OPACY on 1 year deals.  

I could see Chris Carter in that same situation this year.  Depending on what we do there are a bunch of guys I wouldn't mind on 1 year deals to DH or play RF.  Hopefully we'd have a leg up on the competition.  

[waroriole]

15 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Half of Wieters' price, only one year, probably 90% of Wieters' production. He's essentially the stop-gap to Cisco, who gets a year to work on his defense in AAA. If he takes the option, we can always get rid of Joseph in 2018. I really like this move. We aren't sinking the money into the catcher, but have it available for a RF. Mancini can DH.

It's a 2 year contract, with an opt out. I don't know why the O's are trying to frame it as 1 year plus an option.

I like the deal. I like moving on from Wieters, and making a path for Sisco. I do wonder what the plan is for next season, or if there is one. Are we just going with whatever comes along? Will we look to make a pro-active trade or signing?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, waroriole said:

It's a 2 year contract, with an opt out. I don't know why the O's are trying to frame it as 1 year plus an option.

I like the deal. I like moving on from Wieters, and making a path for Sisco. I do wonder what the plan is for next season, or if there is one. Are we just going with whatever comes along? Will we look to make a pro-active trade or signing?

Because the O's spent last offseason declaring to everyone that would listen that they don't do opt-outs.

It is the built in excuse when Manny walks.

[waroriole]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

In a shocking turn of events, Fangraphs are not fans of Castillo.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/welington-castillo-isnt-the-orioles-best-catcher/

 

 

 

Really large sample size on Joseph they're using...

[waroriole]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Because the O's spent last offseason declaring to everyone that would listen that they don't do opt-outs.

It is the built in excuse when Manny walks.

Oh, I know. Just want to see an O's reporter ask the question.

[sportsfan8703]

4 minutes ago, crissfan172 said:

Nice, cheap stop-gap until Sisco is ready. Really good deal with little to no downside. 

Ideally, all that's left now is to either get a legitimate RF that can play defense and get on base...or get a cheap, defense-only RF and try to woo Encarnacion. Of course...I suspect we'll probably end up with something a little less than ideal. 

I agree.  I'd give Encarnacion the 4/80 that Toronto allegedly took of the table.  I'd even give him the opt out after one year.  Trumbo was allegedly looking for 4/72+ from Colorado.  Minus well spend the extra money and get the guy that's been worth 3.6-5.0 WAR the last 5 seasons.  Then get a vet like Bourn or Crisp in here on the cheap.  

Now we know where we stand at C.  This team is already pretty complete.  The Sp's aren't great but they are locked into big deals and aren't going anywhere unless DD pulls off some magic.  The bullpen is great and locked in.  There's not too much left to do.  Just one big signing.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, waroriole said:

Oh, I know. Just want to see an O's reporter ask the question.

I mentioned it to Dubroff on Twitter and he pretty much agreed it's a two year deal with an opt-out.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, waroriole said:

Really large sample size on Joseph they're using...

Funny how they mention how Castillo's defense hurt his payday while stating that Castro's defensive prowess didn't help his.

[crissfan172]

12 minutes ago, waroriole said:

It's a 2 year contract, with an opt out. I don't know why the O's are trying to frame it as 1 year plus an option.

I like the deal. I like moving on from Wieters, and making a path for Sisco. I do wonder what the plan is for next season, or if there is one. Are we just going with whatever comes along? Will we look to make a pro-active trade or signing?

I suppose when it's only one year, it's considered a player option, whereas when there are multiple years attached to the end of the contract, it's an opt-out clause.