Boston Red Sox: Biggest disappointments of 2016 season
By Sean Penney
Rusney Castillo
When Castillo entered spring training the left field job was his to lose – and lose it he did.
The $72.5 million man spent the season as one of the game’s richest minor league players. He played only 9 games for the Red Sox this season, collecting a pair of hits in only eight at-bats.
His time spent in Pawtucket did little to convince the organization that he deserves another shot in the big leagues, as he hit only .263 with a .664 OPS and two home runs in 103 games for the PawSox.
It’s telling that the Red Sox decided to rush Benintendi from Double-A straight to the big leagues when they needed a left field replacement rather than give Castillo another opportunity.
Next: Postseason loss serves as learning experience
The 29-year old came to the organization with a boatload of hype and managed to impress in a brief 10-game sample to end the 2014 season, but it’s been all downhill since then. Castillo signed out of Cuba under the previous front office regime, so Dave Dombrowski owes no allegiance to him. If he’s ever going to be a factor for the Red Sox he’ll need to earn it by showing steady production. Otherwise the organization seems content to treat him as a sunk cost.