JohntheBaptist said:
So if hes barely healthy enough to avoid the DL, and peppers the occasional hit here and there but is nowhere near effective?
Everyone here is saying "itll work itself out." But theyve known about the crunch all winter, have taken that approach since... and nothing has happened. And now theyre handing him the keys to the RF job where he will be entrenched. It is very easy to see a scenario where hes not good enough to draw interest, wont go on the DL, and you have an issue.
It isnt going to sink the team I guess but the plan has been a bit underwhelming to me. I also dont personally see the depth being irrevocably harmed by getting rid of him. Or trading Craig/ Nava and telling Vic hes the backup.
There are really three options as things play out:
1) Vic is healthy and performs really well
2) Vic is healthy and performs less than really well
3) Vic is not healthy
I think the best case scenario is clearly #1. In that case he either adds a lot of value to our team, or instead is tradable based on Castillo/Craig being able to do that job better.
If #2 happens and Castillo or Craig can contribute more, Vic will need to get benched/dumped at some point. Farrell will give him plenty of healthy rope though, so that wouldn't play out very quickly.
If #3 happens as everyone seems to think is a forgone conclusion, then we get a callup without controversy, and give Castillo the chance to prove the job should be his, and that he shouldn't be sent down when Vic is again healthy.
But also remember that because of Betts at 2B, Hanley at SS/3B/1B, etc, Castillo can realistically be the callup for ANY non-catcher DL, which unfortunately isn't that unlikely at all.
While there aren't any clock starting issues to consider, Castillo spending a month or two tearing up AAA isn't the end of the world for him and certainly offers greater flexibility to the organization's asset management.