Pages

August 22, 2014

Red Sox Sign Cuban Outfielder Rusney Castillo

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston:
The Boston Red Sox landed the services of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, agreeing to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract, a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Friday.

Castillo, 27, will join the team this season, the source added, and is expected to undergo a physical in Boston on Saturday. ...

At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Castillo isn't a pure masher in the mold of Jose Abreu or Cespedes. But his power/speed combo has drawn comparisons to Andrew McCutchen and Yasiel Puig.
Alex Speier, WEEI:
The 5-foot-9 Castillo is viewed as a player with elite speed that allows him to be a game-changer on the bases and also permits him considerable range in the outfield, where he can play center or right. He also shows the ability to impact the ball as a line-drive/gap hitter.

Castillo's former teammate Yoenis Cespedes offered the following description of Castillo to WEEI.com earlier this month: "If he's not a five-tool player, he's a least a four-tool player. He's very comparable to Puig. Obviously a different height and size, but very similar qualities."

Puig may be a bit of a stretch as a comparable talent; one evaluator suggested that the Sox signed Castillo more with an eye toward acquiring a player along the lines of a Shane Victorino in his prime — a terrific athlete who has outstanding speed, can play center or right field (more likely center) for the Sox at a high level, and, while not having the power of a Jose Abreu, possesses an ability to impact the baseball that suggests the potential for double-digit home run totals.

4 comments:

  1. We have a lot of outfielders. Gotta be some trades coming.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cespedes ( signed to a new deal first ) and Castillo to FLA for Stanton?....both would be affordable high level talent for the Marlins...

    Next move?

    This is certainly getting interesting....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Boston sports radio never disappoints.

    SoSHer Buffalo Head: "Only took seven minutes for Felger to label Castillo a steroid user."

    ReplyDelete
  4. A couple of weeks ago I was surfing by WEEI and overheard one of the guest idiots refer to Castillo as being 27 years old in "Cuban years" and "we all know what that means". Good thing none of them did any homework so they didn't know he's been living in Haiti since his defection. A mouth-breather's gold mine missed.

    ReplyDelete