On vacation touring Wrigley Field, where #Cubs are working out free agent OF Rusney Castillo as we speak #MLB pic.twitter.com/qfCQW0vgcj
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) August 6, 2014
Well, that’s very interesting. The Cubs are one of the 28 teams that originally went to see the Cuban slugger, but up until now there was no real confirmation on whether or not the Cubs were able to score an exclusive workout. Rusney can sign whenever he wants, so it’s possible that the Cubs simply don’t let him leave without signing (which is extremely doubtful). The reports on Castillo range from All-Star CF/RF to 4th OF; GW has the best treatment on him (as he usually does with the Cuban imports). Just ballparking it, I’d say that translationally he’s a league-average hitter, so he’d have to stick at CF to be more than an interesting 4th OF.
Two things, though:
1) I think the Cuba league is significantly better than we first thought. There have undoubtedly been some misses (Gerardo Concepcion), but Yasiel Puig, Miguel Dariel Abreu, Jorge Soler… even players such as Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alexander Guerrero show some promise, even if they haven’t put it together at the highest level. Each player is different, but I’d be willing to wager that the Cuban league is underrated in the eyes of the general populace, and maybe even the general GM populace.
2) Even if the median or most likely outcome for Castillo is a 1.5 WAR COF, there’s still undeniable upside to his game. If all it costs is money (and the reports are that it will take a lot of money)…the Cubs banked tens of millions in 2013 for a reason, right?
I ultimately think the Cubs will be strong players for Castillo’s services. I don’t mean this tongue-in-cheek; he seems to be a guy you don’t mind slightly overpaying, and if that’s what it takes to sign him, you can still feel relatively good. If the Cubs finish second, I won’t feel bad, because that probably means the Phillies gave him $60 million or something.
The First Wave
Boy, it’s sure fun to dream, isn’t it? JonKneeV puts forth the following 8 (and I’ll add the pitcher):
Pretty realistically, the Cubs line up next year could be
C Castillo
1B Rizzo
2B Alcantara
3B Baez
SS Castro
LF Bryant
CF Rusney Castillo
RF Soler
P Arrieta
It’s pretty realistic, though I think Bryant sticks at 3B, Baez at 2B, and Alcantara would play CF while Castillo (if we signed him) would play left. Today it is an exciting time to be a Cubs fan. Next season it will be incredible.