Willi Castro May Be Twins Latest, Greatest Come Up

[Ted Schwerzler]

Over the years, the Minnesota Twins seem to have lost more players than have fallen into their laps. With this front office's better aptitude for player evaluation, more scenarios like Willi Castro's should play out. Castro, though, may be tough to beat.

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

On November 18, 2022 the Detroit Tigers non-tendered Willi Castro. It took just over a month for him find a new home with the Minnesota Twins, who were able to grab him on a minor league contract signed just before Christmas. Despite having shown versatility with the Tigers, and having played in over 300 games in four seasons, they decided to be done with the 25-year old utility man.

Last season the Twins positioned Castro at every single spot except for first base and catcher. This wasn’t a Cesar Tovar or Andrew Romine decision either, it was clear that Castro could competently handle each of them. Twins' manager Rocco Badelli needed that flexibility, and Castro’s offensive production warranted finding it.

This spring the Minnesota skipper talked about a potential for Castro to take another step forward in 2024. The logic was sound. It’s not often that a guy who has the track record of Castro finds themselves on the open market prior to their arbitration years being burned up, and even less so on a minor league deal.

After posting a 108 OPS+ last season, Badelli has gotten an even better 118 OPS+ through 57 games this year. He will have a chance to surpass the nine home runs he belted in 2023, and Castro recorded his fourth triple of the season on Friday night, to start the scoring in a 6-1 win over the Astros. Within two of his career-best, he has shown his wheels plenty. He doesn’t have the same success rate swiping bases that Minnesota saw from him last year, but he has contributed elsewhere.

In limited work as a fill-in at the hot corner during the time that Royce Lewis has missed, Castro graded out well. He has made some memorable mistakes in center field but has been given those opportunities over Manuel Margot, who was acquired solely to back up Byron Buxton. Moving between the infield and outfield with extreme fluidity, his switch-hitting bat has been a key to the Twins' platoon tendencies.

A year ago, the Twins played Castro in 124 contests. Through 57 games this year, he is the only player to appear in every single one of them. Making just $3.3 million and again arbitration eligible next season, it’s hard not to question if the Pohlad family hasn't looked into cloning his presence.

Losing out on talents like David Ortiz, Tyler Wells, or the countless others that have been misread too soon, seeing the organization hit the proverbial jackpot with Castro has been nothing short of exceptional. Similar to another Latin American before him, Eduardo Escobar, his infectious smile and great personality makes him an easy guy to root for. The production just winds up being icing on the cake.

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[stringer bell]

Willi has been terrific for the Twins. I would argue he was better across the board last year. His defense has been less steady and he’s been asked to play a lot more SS and CF. His base running hasn’t been as dynamic.

On the plus side, he’s hit well from both sides of the plate and he’s played in every game, while leading the team in plate appearances. It wouldn’t surprise me if he gets much more time at second base once Lewis returns. 

[Dman]

I never thought Castro could have a .775 OPS.  Granted the year isn't over but it seems like he is getting better with the bat as time goes on.  Love his flexibility I wonder if the Twins could find a way to extend him?  We really don't have a guy that can do all the things Willie can do.

[gil4]

Quote

Losing out on talents like David Ortiz, Tyler Wells, or the countless others...

You say that as if they are in the same category,   Tyler Wells is a fringe #5 starter.  Is he better than someone they kept instead? Maybe, but pitchers tend to be crap shoots anyway.  I'm losing zero sleep over him.  (My first thought when I saw his name was "Who was he again?") 

The fact that Castro was only 26 meant there was still some time to get better.  Through age 25 he was a below average hitter, but not way below.  If he could get to average with his athletic ability and versatility, he would be pretty valuable.  He exceeded that.  It's not a Shane Mack type of coup, but it was a good find.

 

[FlyingFinn]

39 minutes ago, gil4 said:

Tyler Wells is a fringe #5 starter.  Is he better than someone they kept instead?

Exactly and now he is having a Tommy John type of surgery so these next two seasons are probably pretty much shot.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, gil4 said:

You say that as if they are in the same category,   Tyler Wells is a fringe #5 starter.  Is he better than someone they kept instead? Maybe, but pitchers tend to be crap shoots anyway.  I'm losing zero sleep over him.  (My first thought when I saw his name was "Who was he again?") 

The fact that Castro was only 26 meant there was still some time to get better.  Through age 25 he was a below average hitter, but not way below.  If he could get to average with his athletic ability and versatility, he would be pretty valuable.  He exceeded that.  It's not a Shane Mack type of coup, but it was a good find.

 

 

23 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Exactly and now he is having a Tommy John type of surgery so these next two seasons are probably pretty much shot.

Yep. Cost controlled young pitching grows on trees around here.

[bean5302]

A couple weeks ago people were lamenting the fact Falvey even brought Castro back after an ice cold start to the season; oh how things have turned.

Castro owns an xwOBA of .324 right now. Solid enough, a little better than league average, and right in line with his actual production last year so it seems reasonable to expect Castro to continue bringing a decent bat to the table. A good pickup after Detroit non-tendered him. He's been a butcher in CF which is a real shame because that's where he'd add the most value if his instincts were better. The Twins desperately need a 4th outfielder who can cover it in Buxton's frequent absences. As far as the future goes, if Castro puts up a 3+ WAR campaign, we can expect his arbitration costs are going to get pretty steep for a utility guy starting this offseason.

He's not a superstar, but he looks to be a solid every day player.

 

[Linus]

Want to know how valuable he has been this year?  Imagine what we would be rolling out there if he wasn’t on the squad. He’s gonna get a nice bump in arbitration but if the Pohlads can’t pony up for that then just sell the damn team. 

[Schmoeman5]

He's hitting .115 with RISP.

[tony&rodney]

"With this front office's better aptitude for player evaluation," 

?

Better than ...... ? 

Castro has been a really good addition in a multi-position utility role where he mostly is full time. Sure hope Willi can continually improve and give the team a boost as he has thus with this team.

Probably not a good idea to compare Castro to tovar though. check out Cesar Tovar's numbers in MLB. 

 

[Jocko87]

Again with the framing. Just a couple of days ago I made a joke about Minnesota fans terrified of a player leaving because something something Big Papi and here it is in real life! Unreal!

Nearly the entire position player roster was a first or second round draft pick but ermagawdd Lamonte Wade!

"Over the years, the Minnesota Twins seem to have lost more players than have fallen into their laps."

Brutal. Step away from the keyboard. Call your editor, if you have one.

[D.C Twins]

And it was DETROIT who gave him up.... not exactly like they were swimming in talent at the time!

[Whitey333]

This organization is better than player evaluations??  Better than what?  He's been exceptional??  He's been decent yes.  But let's not make him out to be a hall of fame or savior of the franchise.  Another typical over hypedbstory about an average part time player on a average team

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

"Over the years, the Minnesota Twins seem to have lost more players than have fallen into their laps."

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/loss-aversion

Quote

Loss aversion is a cognitive bias that describes why, for individuals, the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. The loss felt from money, or any other valuable object, can feel worse than gaining that same thing.1 Loss aversion refers to an individual’s tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains. Simply put, it’s better not to lose $20, than to find $20.

Even if the Twins had evenly lost and gained players it would "feel" like they had lost more. You have to gain at a 2-1 ratio to make it "feel" even.

[Karbo]

Castro has been a very good pick up. He has become a valuable piece of this team. Now if he can improve the one area he is lacking in, hitting with RISP, he will be in the running for team MVP.

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/loss-aversion

Even if the Twins had evenly lost and gained players it would "feel" like they had lost more. You have to gain at a 2-1 ratio to make it "feel" even.

Other teams fanbases avoid this by not looking at players leaving as a loss. Players always leave. Losses only happen on the field.

[Fatbat]

Every team needs a Castro type… When he heats up, the team wins more. He isnt an mvp but he adds some juice. 

[David Maro]

Some players need to play more than one or two games a week to show their ability. You can see he is happy to play any where he is asked to play. Once Lewis is back he should get a break,so he doesn't wear down.

[LambchoP]

Castro has been very good for us. He adds so much value to the team due to his versatility. I wonder what we could get back for him in a trade? His role on the team could potentially be filled by Austin Martin. And if we could get some solid pitching for him I'd say trade him while his value is highest.

[Doctor Gast]

Did the Twins sought Castro? Or wasn't it Castro seeking the Twins out? I was very impressed with Castro's 1st spring training. But several walk ons excelled over their in-house competition yet were sent down dejected never playing in a Twins' game. Crazy to say that it was fortuntely that there were several injuries that allowed Castro comeup with team. He got to play in enough games to increase his confidence & he took off. Because of the injuries to Lewis, Correa & Buxton, he started wane. He's very valuable to us & should be extended