Wellington Castilla C from cubs traded to M's for Medina

[gowazzu02]

thoughts?

 

[blstoker]

hate to lose Medina, but RP really aren't worth much I guess. I don't know too much about Castillo, but looks like he should be an improvement over Sucre and will at least be better offensively on Zunino's days off that either of the catchers we have right now (including Zunino).

 

[cezero]

castillo is a nice alternative to sucre. that's it.

anybody who brings up zunino regarding this particular deal is to be executed immediately.

 

[wazzu31]

What if he is brought in to send Zunino down?

 

[Msfann]

It seems like an ok trade that probably wont really make much difference in the long run. but they don't all have to be blockbuster trades.

 

[cezero]

What if he is brought in to send Zunino down?

wow

 

[SeattleCoug]

Catching depth is one of those many things I wish was addressed in the offseason but wasn't. Regardless it makes the team better now. Medina is just another reliever and they are a dime a dozen. I also think Lloyd didn't care for Medina to much so not shocking.

 

[seattlefan75]

I actually like Medina im a little upset they had to trade him away he averaged about 60+ innings these last 2 seasons and his ERA was under 3. in both seasons he struck out more batters than innings pitched. Then we trade for a C who has been hitting terribly his last 400 at bats. I guess we were that desperate for another catcher

 

[seahawksfan234]

I hate to lose Medina because of his very productive run from 2013-2014, (2.81 ERA in 181 games), but Medina's walks are up, strikeouts are down, and: "Medina has exhibited some rather significant velocity loss this year, dropping from last year’s 94-95 mph range down to 92.4 mph with both his four-seamer and two-seamer thus far in 2015" - MLBTR

Wellington is a very good backup. His numbers this year are not good, but in 2013, Wellington had a 4.5 WAR with a 2.8 dWAR. He's good defensively and way better than Sucre on defense.

 

[ehwq]

John Jaso 2.0?

 

[anotheridiot]

You Mariner fans will fall in love with the arm of Castillo, he has a cannon. The problem he had in Chicago was the emphasis on stealing strikes with pitch framing. He is pretty much gonna block everything in the dirt, will throw out runners, but wont steal you strikes. Offensively he hits better with regular playing time. Most of us in chicago thought Welly had a starting job this year, then the Montero deal and the personal catcher for Lester with Ross has had most of us scratching our heads. Fine with Montero, even though we are paying all his salary, but Ross seemed to be a bad fit here.

The cubs just could not keep the three catchers on the roster and only have two bench guys since our pen is a mess now. I guess there are concerns with Medina losing that MPH on the fastball so he is supposedly going to our AAA club.

 

[wazzu31]

I hate to lose Medina because of his very productive run from 2013-2014, (2.81 ERA in 181 games), but Medina's walks are up, strikeouts are down, and: "Medina has exhibited some rather significant velocity loss this year, dropping from last year’s 94-95 mph range down to 92.4 mph with both his four-seamer and two-seamer thus far in 2015" - MLBTR

Wellington is a very good backup. His numbers this year are not good, but in 2013, Wellington had a 4.5 WAR with a 2.8 dWAR. He's good defensively and way better than Sucre on defense.

The Mariners haven't ever had a hard finding RH bullpen arms so I really don't see a loss dealing him. If the rotation is on then guys like Medina are expendable cause he's not a set up guy or closer. IMO

 

[PolarVortex]

Sucre had 6 starts in 37 games. A second-string catcher needs to carry a bigger load than that unless you have an allstar catcher, which we do not.

Sucre's last four starts have beeen with either Felix or Elias. I don't know if there is a language barrier or what, but his only start with Paxton was the game in which Paxton got crushed for 10 hits and 7 runs in 2 2/3rd innings. His only other start was with Happ. It was a good game for Happ but it was in Oakland. As we have learned this year, Happ could pitch to a deaf mute in a big park and still have a good game.

Mariners have struggled against left handers this year. Castillo had 400 plate appearances last year and put up an .855 OPS against left-handers.

This move was made for three reasons that I can see:
Add more punch to the lineup against lefties.
Provide a catching alternative that can take more of the work load than Sucre did.
We have a surplus of right handed relief and Medina was going to be arbitration eligibe next year.

 

[unlvmariners]

This is my thought. I have always liked Castillo never loved him though. Potentially a solid bat, decent catcher behind the plate but not great. He has his specific strengths and weaknesses. Overall I don't see this move as much of an upgrade over Sucre except for the bat and experience at MLB level. My first impression is this is a wasted trade, main reason being I think Medina held some value on the trade market but mostly if he was used in a package deal for more of an impact player. That is my first take on the trade don't love it and I don't hate it. My mind may change depending on how Castillo is used and how he performs. Not expecting much though.

 

[unlvmariners]

Sucre had 6 starts in 37 games. A second-string catcher needs to carry a bigger load than that unless you have an allstar catcher, which we do not.

This move was made for three reasons that I can see:
Add more punch to the lineup against lefties.
Provide a catching alternative that can take more of the work load than Sucre did.
We have a surplus of right handed relief and Medina was going to be arbitration eligibe next year.

This thought doesn't make sense to me. My personal thought is Sucre could have handled more of a workload and I think he would have done a fine job. He just wasn't given the opportunity. I think Sucre got shafted on his playing time. Especially when the starter is as shitty as he has been.

Everything else I agree with.

 

[NWinAZ]

Good trade. Sucre hits worse than K-Nino and that is saying a lot. Sucre can go back to being insurance in Tacoma. He will soon be passed by by Hicks anyways. Let him catch twice a week and maybe that helps K-Nino as well. Medina was expendable. They traded depth for needed depth.

 

[PolarVortex]

This thought doesn't make sense to me. My personal thought is Sucre could have handled more of a workload and I think he would have done a fine job. He just wasn't given the opportunity. I think Sucre got shafted on his playing time. Especially when the starter is as shitty as he has been.

Everything else I agree with.

I don't think he got shafted at all. He never should have been in the majorrs to begin with. He never did anything remotely worthly in the minors of being promoted to the majors. He was promoted by default because the Mariners catching corps has sucked so bad the last three years.

This is his career OPS at each level:
High A - .635
AA - .618
AAA - .664
Majors (109 plate appearances) - .406

Castillo's major league career OPS (.717) is about 50 points higher than Sucre's minor league career OPS.

 

[NWinAZ]

Bob Dutton ‏@TNT_Mariners 2h2 hours ago

#Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon on new C Welington Castillo: "His playing time will be predicated on (Mike) Zunino’s performance."

-------------------------

So he is playing all the time?

 

[cezero]

If Zunino doesn't hit better, throw in the guy with the negative WAR, less power, lower OBP, and lower AVG.

Makes perfect sense.

 

[NWinAZ]

Based on 43 ab's? Tough crowd.