Red Sox: Rusney Castillo’s stellar spring doesn’t earn him a roster spot
By Sean Penney
A strong spring wasn’t enough for Rusney Castillo to stick with the big league roster, leaving his future with the Boston Red Sox in question.
These last few weeks have provided us with the best sample we’ve ever seen from Rusney Castillo since he signed with the Boston Red Sox, and it still wasn’t enough for him to break camp with a spot on the major league roster.
Castillo was among the half-dozen Red Sox players reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday, just over a week away from the start of the regular season. Without a roster spot open for him, will Castillo ever get the chance to return to Boston?
The Red Sox have held firm to the stance that opportunities for Castillo would depend on a combination of how well he was performing and the needs of the ball club.
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He’s handled the performance aspect this spring, hitting a blistering .368/.385/.526 with a home run, three doubles and three steals. We have to be cautious not to overate spring training stats, although it’s worth noting that this production is in stark contrast to last spring, when his abysmal results foreshadowed another disappointing season in which he barely saw any time in the majors.
This spring feels different with Castillo, enough to provide optimism that he may finally flourish into the talent the Red Sox hoped for.
The second aspect is trickier, as no matter how well Castillo performs he’s still currently blocked in Boston by a trio of star caliber outfielders. He could battle for a spot off the bench, although he’d be better served seeing consistent playing time in Triple-A Pawtucket. This leaves Castillo waiting for an injury or trade to open a spot for him, assuming he continues to produce in the meantime.
"“The need is going to be the main thing,” Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters today at JetBlue Park, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “At this point, the durability factor of our outfield, particularly in Rusney’s case — when you just evaluate the skills and the overall durability — we happen to be in a very strong and healthy place with the outfield that’s currently here.”"
As if the deck wasn’t stacked enough against him, there’s another significant factor holding Castillo back -his contract.
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While players with bloated contracts often are handed playing time by teams desperate to salvage any shred of value from them, the opposite may hold true for Castillo. His career hit rock bottom last season when the Red Sox took him off their 40-man roster, which means his $10.36 million annual average salary doesn’t count toward the team’s payroll for luxury tax purposes.
No matter how well Castillo is performing, a Red Sox team hellbent on ducking the steep luxury tax penalties will be hesitant to add him back to the roster. Boston’s 2017 payroll currently stands at north of $193 million, per Spotrac, leaving them very little wiggle room under the $195 million tax threshold. Unless a concurrent salary shedding move is made, adding Castillo back to the 40-man roster would send the payroll soaring past that limit.
Not to mention that adding Castillo also means removing someone else, thereby risking that they lose that player to another organization. Which current member of the 40-man roster are the Red Sox ready to give up on for Castillo’s sake?
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The unexpected production this spring has been a promising sign for Castillo, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing him in Boston anytime soon. He remains a potentially useful depth option waiting in the wings, although when factoring in his contract and roster status, calling up Castillo is more of a break glass in case of emergency option.