Is Castro odd man out?

[MileHighTwinsFan]

With Sano making the trip down to Ft. Myers to start his rehab assignment, the discussion on whose roster spot is vulnerable seems worthy of discussion.

 

With three catchers on the roster, conventional wisdom would suggest that one of those slots would be the first place the front office will look. It is clear that Baldelli is struggling with how to get all three catchers innings behind the plate. Garver's performance both offensively and defensively has been one of the pleasant surprises of the first couple of weeks of the season. I have to believe that Baldelli is going to pencil his name into the lineup more often than your typical backup backstop. At the start of the season most would have agreed that La Tortuga would be optioned when Sano returns. However, his strong bat and versatility, not to mention his fearless playing style, is making him a valuable ingredient to team chemistry.  

 

That leaves Jason Castro as the odd man out.  He has played sparingly and hasn't distinguished himself when he has had opportunities.  The $8M remaining on his contract would be a tough pill to swallow if they DFA'd him, but I would have to believe there is a team that might deal for him for some catching depth.  I would suspect the Twins would need to eat some of the contract, but they would also get another lottery ticket prospect. 

 

Moving him out of the organization would definitely test the depth they have at the position if Garver or Astudillo got hurt. There is no other catcher on the 40-man, and no immediate option to add someone, which means the team would likely need to look outside the organization for a third option.  

 

Is Jason Castro on his way out in MN?

 

[ashbury]

There's a good chance that by the time a decision needs to be made, Tortuga's BA will be under .300 and his OPS in a good-but-not-indispensible range. The injury rate for catchers is high, as you say, and cutting ties early with Castro thus has a risk. I'd see Willians spending two months in Rochester, awaiting a deadline deal that moves Castro to the NL.

[diehardtwinsfan]

My guess is the odd man is Adrianza. 

 

That said, I woudln't be surprised if Castro was traded at the deadline if Astrudillo and Garver keep doing what they are doing. Castro will have some value and could potentially gain a marginal prospect or a useful RP from a team that has an overabudance and needs catching help. 

 

Only real downside here is that we really don't have much depth behind Garver and Turtle. Even if Rortvedt and Jeffers go on a tear, they will only make it to AA this season. 

[pbrezeasap]

I would expect Cave or Adrianza to be the choice, with Astudillo a distant third.

[Puckett34]

Garver seems to have made Castro redundant. Has to either be Adrianza and either Castro is gone/Turtle optioned when the time comes for the bullpen to be expanded to 13 and Sano returns.

 

Pick'um on what happens first outside of injury.

[Mike Sixel]

I'll go with astudillo sent down, then we see how people preform....

[ashbury]

One question that might make a difference to my last post. Can Schoop play SS? He's a good 2B, maybe he can man the position if Polanco goes down?  

Good point. He split time between 2B and SS in the minors, suggesting that his management came to view his future (as with many young infielders) to be at 2B - but he played a bit of SS in 2017-18 for Baltimore/Milwaukee, so I would guess he wouldn't be a disaster if pressed into duty there.

[scottz]

With the lack of catching prospects, Castro is going nowhere, at least this early in the season. Maybe if things continue to go great for Garver/Astudillo, they consider shopping him at the deadline. Maybe.

 

"An Evening With La Tortuga" on April 26 means that Astudillo is going absolutely nowhere. Get that out of your heads.

Cave has an option. Gonzalez can play OF if needed. Cave goes to Rochester.

[Sssuperdave]

I think it will be Adrianza or maybe Cave.  With Sano back Gonzales will be free to play other positions, and both Garver and Astudillo have some positional flexibility, so this teams 3 catchers is not what you normally think of with 3 catchers.

[stringer bell]

It is Cave. Marwin played more outfield than infield last year and both Kepler and Rosario can slide over to center for a day or more. Turtle spent time in the outfield and even Garver has a few innings of experience there. Oh yes, Adrianza has logged several innings in left, as well.

 

With the versatility that Garver and Astudillo offer, the Twins can go with three catchers for a while. If Astudillo or Garver start looking like average offensive performers, one of them could be optioned, but for now, it is three catchers.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

One question that might make a difference to my last post. Can Schoop play SS? He's a good 2B, maybe he can man the position if Polanco goes down?  

If Schoop's on Short, What's on Second? 

[Mr. Brooks]

If Schoop's on Short, What's on Second?

Gonzalez.

[ashbury]

If Schoop's on Short, What's on Second? 

Now that's the first thing you've said right.

[ashbury]

"An Evening With La Tortuga" on April 26 means that Astudillo is going absolutely nowhere.

Very good information.

 

I'd complain about making roster decisions based on marketing needs, but that probably does happen with every team now and then, so I will mute my outrage.

 

Since Sano isn't slated to start his rehab until May, I'll still stand with my guess as to what they'll do when we have a starting 3B again.

[Doomtints]

I think Castro goes at the trade deadline.

 

There are a few ways to slice this. If the Twins want to cut the most overpaid player, that would be Gonzalez. Gonzalez always has slow starts so they won't do this.

 

If it's worst defender, which is very important for a bench player, it's Cave.

 

Worst offensive player would be Adrianza.

 

As others have said, it's going to be Cave.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Tough call. I like Astudiilo but he didn't really hit so well when he started to get regular playing time.

You mean, his two starts in a row?

[KirbyDome89]

If we're assuming Adriana is swapped for a relief arm then ideally it'd be Castro being removed for Sano. He provides the least value offensively & defensively, and he has no positional flexibility. MN can find a serviceable defensive catcher who can't hit if either Garver or Astudillo goes down. 

 

That said it'll likely be either Cave or Astudillo on the way out because they have options. This is the same FO/ownership that sold a 2nd round pick rather than just cut bait with what Hughes was owed for half a season. I don't see any way they move on from Castro other than a trade. 

[MileHighTwinsFan]

I think Adrianza’s glove it too valuable. I think defense, particularly when Sano returns, will be a weakness. Adrianza will be that important fill-in or late inning defensive sub. I agree that Cave is a likely candidate, but I do think they would prefer he be the off the bench left-handed pinch hitter, rather than Castro.

[nicksaviking]

I think it's Cave. Gonzalez and Astudillo would be the 4th and 5th OF. I don't think Adrianza is nearly as good defensively as advertised, but he's probably better than Gonzalez and as far as the bench goes, the back up SS is probably more important than the 4th OF when the entire starting outfield can all man CF when needed. Plus Cave would only be a 10 day assignment away from being able to be recalled.

 

I don't have a problem with losing Castro except I'd rather have the flexibility to have Garver and Astudillo in the lineup when needed, which might be often. I normally wouldn't advocate for a 3rd catcher, but when two of your best hitters are catchers then I can get behind it.

[jkcarew]

 

If it's worst defender, which is very important for a bench player, it's Cave.

Depends on position...Cave is arguably the best defensive outfielder off the bench. I'd certainly rather have him out there (for defense) before Garver or Astudillo.

[jkcarew]

I think it's probably Cave or Astudillo at this time. I don't think you say goodbye to Castro this soon. It would be bold, but also pretty risky. Having said that, it's not like Adrianza has been used much lately.

 

But, barring an injury, there will be two moved, not one. I wouldn't be surprised if the move for the 13th arm comes before the addition of Sano. Although, I suppose they can sustain the AAAA pitcher "shuffle" for a bit longer.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

If we're assuming Adriana is swapped for a relief arm

No need. They can either start using the relief arms they have (Harper and Mejia) or they can start swapping fresh pitchers through those spots as needed (Harper's spot, I guess, since he has options).

[ScrapTheNickname]

I would imagine that Astudillo is first to be sent down. I disagree though, in that he has an average of 2 plate appearances per game. I would like to see him play more to really find out if he can sustain his stellar batting average. Castro, no matter his awful batting, will remain with the team. 

[Danchat]

Catchers get hurt quite frequently and we don't have any depth behind Castro if we DFA him or trade him, so I'd keep him on the roster for the whole season, if possible. If we ship Castro out and either Astudillo or Garver get injured, we're going to have another Bobby Wilson-type as our #2 catcher.

 

As most the others have already said, Cave makes the most sense to option to AAA. But just one injury to one of these hitters would change things and make this discussion irrelevant, so I wouldn't worry about the logjam.

[oregontwin]

 

Gonzalez.

Nope. What's on second.

[Puckett34]

 

Nope. What's on second.

I dont know

[goulik]

With several comments that I have seen responding about our depth and "nothing" at Rochester, I would like to point out that Tomas Tellis, who is currently in Rochester, has earned MLB time 5 consecutive years with a .230 MLB BA. He's not great, but he could be considered for a back up catcher filling in for an injury for a short amount of time. Really what you're risking is a second injury happening while the starter is out injured. That scenario would also require you to hold Astudillo in reserve as a back up catcher for Garver and not risking him in the field. This would limit his at bats so by no means am I advocating that route but it is more plausible than what it has been made out to be.

 

Winston Sawyer is also at AAA for a second year and is just 27 years old. Again, not a great prospect and not someone I would want to bring up as a starter but someone that could come up and ride the bench as a back up and give occasional at bats to. These are not great options but we have seen worse here in Twins Territory. Back up catchers are not always good hitters. Sometimes they are just insurance and both of these can serve as insurance and probably bat better than .191 (which we have seen before at starting catcher)

 

 

EDITORS NOTE: This is talking about them being the 3rd and 4th catchers in Rochester with Garver the starter and Astudillo as back up. 

 

 

[woolywoolhouse]

Someone with an option will go down first, so either Cave or Astudillo. My guess is Cave, then Gonzalez and Astudillo become your back-up out-fielders. 

[yarnivek1972]

With the lack of catching prospects, Castro is going nowhere, at least this early in the season. Maybe if things continue to go great for Garver/Astudillo, they consider shopping him at the deadline. Maybe.

 

"An Evening With La Tortuga" on April 26 means that Astudillo is going absolutely nowhere. Get that out of your heads.

Cave has an option. Gonzalez can play OF if needed. Cave goes to Rochester.

 

Sano will likely be rehabbing the full 20 days he’s alotted. And it isn’t a guarantee he comes up right away then. He essentially has done zero baseball activities since the injury. We’re talking about a guy with a long swing with not much margain for error when he’s going well. To say he’s going to need time to find his swing is a collossal understatement.

 

It’s going to be well into May before Sano is ready and thus well past La Tortuga night.

 

 

All that said, if the decision were made today it absolutely would be Astudillo. He’s like 2 for his last 14. Has the bubble burst?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

With several comments that I have seen responding about our depth and "nothing" at Rochester, I would like to point out that Tomas Tellis, who is currently in Rochester, has earned MLB time 5 consecutive years with a .230 MLB BA. He's not great, but he could be considered for a back up catcher filling in for an injury for a short amount of time. Really what you're risking is a second injury happening while the starter is out injured. That scenario would also require you to hold Astudillo in reserve as a back up catcher for Garver and not risking him in the field. This would limit his at bats so by no means am I advocating that route but it is more plausible than what it has been made out to be.

 

Winston Sawyer is also at AAA for a second year and is just 27 years old. Again, not a great prospect and not someone I would want to bring up as a starter but someone that could come up and ride the bench as a back up and give occasional at bats to. These are not great options but we have seen worse here in Twins Territory. Back up catchers are not always good hitters. Sometimes they are just insurance and both of these can serve as insurance and probably bat better than .191 (which we have seen before at starting catcher)

 

Or we can stay 3 deep there and not worry about it and simply option Astrudillo or cut Adrianza... I don't think Castro goes except via trade deadline once the season is much closer to ending and our playoff picture in consideration.. certainly not now. 

 

He's not going to get DFAd as he's got value to other teams, and there's no reason to move him at this point until the deadline gets a lot closer. That's probably the soonest.

 

I get your point about Rochester catchers, but the bottom line is that I doubt the front office wants them in consideration for any time as long as this team is in the playoff picture. If we're in the hunt come trade deadline, he might get moved for an RP or prospects if Garver/Astrudillo are healthy and producing, and he won't be moved at all if one is injured/ineffective.