If it is Castillo, he better be Johnny Bench behind the plate because he can't hit for s...
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If it is Castillo, he better be Johnny Bench behind the plate because he can't hit for s...
No there is nobody in the system that is better and I think read that he plays good D. If he can be our version of Molina in St. Louis then whatever its all good.
If the trade is in fact Owings, Buck and Castillo put me down as wanting the draft picks instead.
Buck could be good but is somewhat of a wildcard in that he is in the low minors and is coming off TJ surgery.
Castillo is currently OPSing a Bakoesque .660 in the hitter friendly PCL.
Owings, I just don't get the excitment. He will turn 26 in September and is a flyball pitcher with middle to back of the rotation stuff.
What am I missing?
Looking at his stats I wouldn't say he his terrible at the plate. Not a lot of power but decent avg, not a lot of k's. If he is a stud defensively, we can't ask for much more. There are very few if any catchers that are studs defensively and at the plate.
Don't forget that Owings has some hitting ability, which is exactly what you want out of a pitcher. And Buck used to throw hard, so no doubt that'll come back. And Castillo's D should be good enough to make up for any lack in offensive production. Hey, we can bat Owings 8 and Castillo 9!
Who's to say they won't?
If these guys are going to be so so at best and 2 draft picks could be either be potential starters or end up being nothing, well I'll take my chances on the draft picks.
Owings could be good but I doubt he'll be anything better than a #5 starter. Buck is already broken as far as I'm concerned. And Castillo is a future Mendoza hitting catcher.
Hell, for all the raves Castillo gets for his D, I'd rather have a guy who can keep the ball in front of him and OBP .350.
Love the fact that we're getting Owings. Buck could be a nice pitcher in a year or two. Underwhelmed by Castillo but, if he plays rock-solid defense, I'll take it. Catcher is a defensive-oriented position. That's just how it is.
All in all, a Owings/Castillo/Buck return for 6 weeks of Adam Dunn, whom we weren't going to re-sign anyway, makes me very happy. Kudos, Walt. Well Dunn.
That we were not going to keep Dunn any way and the two draft picks are complete wildcards. This way, you lose a player you aren't planning to keep, get three guys who you see as having potential to help your team and you move in a positive direction. This is a great deal and I'm a Dunn fan.
I love Owings. I think he could be very good as a SP, but if not he may be a 1B or play LF. He's a baseball player who can throw in the low to mid-90's and provide good swings at the plate - sounds good to me.
Buck is a prospect who was at one time a high prospect. Its worth the effort.
Castillo may be the defensive catcher that we so desperately need. Catching is one of our weakest areas now.
Correct me if I'm wrong on this. The draft picks would have come only after Dunn was offered arbitration and turned it down for another team. There was the possibility that Dunn would have accepted and they would be stuck with him and received no picks.
His full season in single A he batter over .300, full season in AA batted over .300, this year in his first full season in AAA is batting .250, well below his .280 minor league average. Where does one season of hitting .250 translate into a .200 major league hitter? He also has some speed and athleticism with a few triples and steals. David Ross was a career .250 minor league hitter with a ton of K's, Castillo doesn't K. Every level Castillo has been at he has struggled and then improved.
To me Castillo seems to be a poor mans Jason Kendall type when Kendall was in his prime hitting .300, I could see Castillio being a .260-.275 hitter.
Well with the Dunn trade the plan seems to be to rebuild the team fully, so 3-5 years becomes the plan. Getting the guys that contribute now or next year does what? Who are their supporting cast? How can they win by rebuilding?
It's the same thing that's been going on now for the past 8 years of minor firesales and getting less talented but more ready guys. If you're going to rebuild, do it the right way and get those draft picks and those talented guys that you need to wait on. If you're winning now, keep the good players (ie Dunn), trade the prospects you have for other good players and win now.
This is some half assed, half-between attempt that almost seems like making moves for the sake of making moves. I'm sorry, I don't see Buck and Castillo as contributing much if anything to this team. Owings could, but I'd bet if he does it's nothing more than slightly better than average.