squeezeplay

This was written before today's trade. Great article on why the move was made. It's from newbergreport.com Breaking down the Fabio Castro move. 6/25/2006 The Newberg Report By Jamey Newberg I've already written 90 percent of Monday's "Going Deep" article for TexasRangers.com, discussing the nature of Frankie Francisco's rehab assignment and the reason the Rangers ended it after just 18 days (when pitchers are generally allowed 30) and then optioned the righthander to Frisco. I'm not going to scrap it. So I'm going to save an explanation of what the Rangers have done with lefthander Fabio Castro and the consequences of the move for the following week's article. It's probably just as well; this story isn't over yet. With righthander Robinson Tejeda summoned from Oklahoma to make last night's start in Colorado (replacing the injured Kameron Loe), Texas created roster space by making the somewhat surprising decision to designate Castro for assignment. The Rangers have 10 days within which to trade the Rule 5 pick or place him on league-wide waivers. If he's placed on waivers, the worst team to claim him would inherit the constraints of Rule 5, having to keep him in the big leagues for the rest of 2006 in order to retain his rights past this season. If he were to clear waivers, Texas would be required to offer him back to the White Sox (from whom Kansas City selected him with the December draft's top pick, promptly trading him to Texas for utility man Esteban German) for $25,000. But that won't happen -- there's no chance Castro would clear waivers. And I'd suggest there's almost no chance that Texas ever places Castro on waivers in the first place. It's a virtual lock that the 21-year-old will be traded. Does this mean the Rangers didn't value Castro's upside? Of course it doesn't. Obviously they liked him quite a bit, or they wouldn't have made the trade for him, wouldn't have devoted an Opening Day roster spot to him, wouldn't have made it nearly half a season paying him the big league minimum to hold a spot in the Texas bullpen at times and to rehab a groin strain in Surprise, Frisco, and Oklahoma City at others. But Jon Daniels decided that Texas, in a tight division race with Oakland, could no longer go forward with Castro as a permanent member of the relief corps, especially with a rotation that's forcing the bullpen to work harder lately and with a number of fellow relievers pitching inconsistently. Add the fact that Frankie Francisco and Josh Rupe could be returning soon, and that Adam Eaton or a trade acquisition could move a current Rangers starter into the pen, and Castro's hold on a job over the last three months was looking more and more tenuous, particularly assuming Texas is going to stay in the race. He hasn't been a disaster in his few opportunities with the Rangers; far from it. Opponents hit a measly .200/.351/.233 off him. He gave up four earned runs (4.32 ERA) in 8.1 innings, allowing six hits (five singles and one double) and fanning five, though he did issue seven walks. But this is a kid who had never pitched above Class A before April, and so command and consistency issues were to be expected. The Rangers just didn't want to be the team to deal with those the rest of the summer. Because there are sure to be several teams interested in giving a big league roster spot to Castro for what amounts to only half a season, Daniels should be able to generate a handful of trade offers for the small southpaw. And I'd submit to you that the offers should be better now than they were in December, when German was the best offer the Royals got for him. The reason for that is no team was going to give up a useful veteran for Castro in December, because every team probably believed it had a chance to do something in 2006 (or at least had to act that way for the benefit of their ticket-buying public). Today, the story is different. Teams out of the race or on the verge of it might have veterans that are not as meaningful to their big picture as Castro would be, and teams who have established strength and stability in their bullpen -- even contenders -- might see enough of a ceiling in Castro that they think they can hide him the rest of the way this season (really, just until September, when rosters expand and Castro's presence won't handicap the manager under any circumstances) and benefit for years after that by having him under control. Texas is neither out of the race nor fortified with a stable pen. And so Castro is on his way out. But trust this: Daniels is always well prepared. Texas knew for nearly a week that Tejeda was going to come up to make last night's start, so you can be sure Daniels was working the phones to determine what Castro's trade value might be well before he made yesterday's procedural move. Bet on him getting a player back who the club believes can help the big league team right now more than Castro would have, or a prospect whose future the club likes just as much as Castro's. Here's my guess: if the Rangers had been getting any more than 5.2 innings per game out of their starters, or if guys like Joaquin Benoit and Antonio Alfonseca and Brian Shouse and C.J. Wilson had been more effective this spring, or both, Castro sticks. But the bullpen has been taxed, and it has been inconsistent, and as a result the Rangers decided they needed the arms they believe they can most count on at every relief spot. So Castro moves on, and he's almost certain to be in the big leagues the rest of the year, in someone else's uniform. And it may be that Daniels already has a trade he's willing to make if nothing better materializes, and the designation for assignment simply puts every other team on notice and creates a finite window for them to put in their bids. I'm disappointed that Castro isn't going to finish the year as a Ranger and fit next year into the upper levels of the club's farm system, which is relatively thin on high-ceiling lefthanders. But let's see what Daniels converts Castro into, which is far more likely to be a player than $25,000 of Chicago's money. The cool thing is that this could all play out right around the time that 300 of us will have Daniels fielding our questions, between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in one week, at Newberg Report Night on July 2.

The Rangers just traded Castro to the Phillies for Daniel Haigwood and cash considerations. Rangers trade Castro to Phillies 02:11 PM CDT on Thursday, June 29, 2006 From Staff Reports ARLINGTON – The Rangers have traded lefthanded pitcher Fabio Castro to Philadelphia in exchange for lefthander Daniel Haigwood and cash considerations. In other moves, Josh Rupe was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma. Infielder Marshall McDougall was released from his contract with Oklahoma. Haigwood was 2-5 with a 3.54 ERA in 15 appearances with Double-A Reading. He has 84 innings pitched with 85 strikeouts and 42 walks. He was originally selected by the White Sox in the 2002 draft. It was the second time in less than eight months than Haigwood was traded. He was a part of the deal that saw Jim Thome go from the Phillies to the White Sox.

fabio castro

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 01:38 PM) They tried to get another year out of him in the system without having to protect him and a s***ty team with an absolute s***ty farm system and no pitching took a chance on him. Hopefully you're referring to the Kansas City Royals, the team that drafted him, and not the Rangers, the team that traded for him. But either way, both teams have better farm systems than the Sox.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 01:29 PM) A mistake? Come on. The guy is a raw kid in A ball and you don't hand out 40-man roster spots to kids like that who aren't the top prospects. Jenks wasn't a mistake. The Angels knew exactly what they were doing. The Sox were the recipients of the luck of the dice in that move and the Angels just wanted to wash their hands of him. Santana I will give you. You keep lefties with plus stuff when you can. luck of the draw or roll of the dice?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 12:50 PM) Well, if he gets shellacked during the season and the Rangers have some injuries... Could you use the word "shellacked" a few more times??? Personally, I wish the guy nothing but the best whatever team he plays for. The Sox should have protected him, but they didn't, so deal with it. Now he has a great opportunity to prove himself. Good for Fabio, and good for the Rangers for giving him the chance.

I think it's safe to say that he won't end up with the Sox, even if Texas doesn't keep him. So we probably shouldn't wish that the guy does badly.

I don't mean to inundate y'all with this Fabio Castro info, but the following is probably the most complete, and interesting of what I've read so far... The Newberg Report: March 20th, 2006 By Jamey Newberg www.thenewbergreport.com THE NEWBERG REPORT Francisco Cordero is in, supported by righthanders Akinori Otsuka (who was really dirty Saturday night against Korea) and Joaquin Benoit, and left-handed specialist Brian Shouse. Three spots remain in the bullpen that Texas will run out there on April 3, ideally one more righthander who can pitch the back third of the game, a second southpaw, and a long man who can chew up innings if the starter gets chased early. The righty, barring a trade, stands to be Antonio Alfonseca or Jose Silva, both of whom are off the roster, or Scott Feldman, who has all three of his options remaining. Jon Leicester is out of options but probably needs to pitch lights-out over the next two weeks to win a job. The long man was supposed to be John Wasdin, but a rough spring (eight runs on 14 hits and three walks in 6.1 innings) has opened the door for R.A. Dickey and possibly another candidate or two. More on that in a bit. The second lefthander in the pen is where the real issue is. Outside of the fifth starter, it's probably the most interesting roster decision facing the Rangers. Texas brought seven contestants to camp for left-handed spots in the pen: 40-man roster pitchers Shouse, Erasmo Ramirez, and C.J. Wilson; non-roster invites Kevin Walker, Ron Mahay, and Jesse Carlson; and Rule 5 acquisition Fabio Castro. Carlson has already been reassigned to minor league camp. Ramirez is out of options but hasn't been at his sharpest (four runs on six hits and a walk in 4.2 innings). Mahay has had control issues, issuing walks in five of his six appearances, including the March 1 intrasquad game (overall, five walks to go along with six hits in 7.1 frames). That leaves, as contestants for the second job behind Shouse, three pitchers in different circumstances: Wilson, Walker, and Castro. The decision on what to do with Wilson is interesting. One school of thought is to make him the Rangers' version of White Sox lefty Neal Cotts, a power reliever who can go multiple innings and projects eventually to be a rotation fixture. Another is to option Wilson to Oklahoma and put him on the same schedule as the big club's fifth starter, stretching him out with an eye toward bringing him up at some point to give the rotation its lone lefthander. There remains an outside shot that Wilson could figure in at number five in Texas, too. In three weeks. The 29-year-old Walker, an Irving native and Grand Prairie High School product, has been outstanding all spring (one run on two hits and one walk in seven innings, fanning nine), but chances are he'll be assigned to AAA. And that's because the primary competition for Wilson at this point seems to be Castro, and not because the club believes he's a better bet to get outs right now. It's because the only way the 21-year-old can remain Ranger property into April is to make the Opening Day staff, while Wilson has options. Jon Daniels jumped into the radio booth during yesterday afternoon's game, noting that Castro has shown Texas a plus fastball, a plus change, and flashes (though inconsistent) of a plus curve. The club loves his makeup and poise as much as his ability to change speeds. And with the exception of one awful outing against Kansas City a week and a half ago, his results have been really good. Daniels mentioned that there's been a thought that Castro could be stretched out to see if he could handle the long man role himself. Moments after he said that, Adam Eaton took a second-inning Marquis Grissom line shot off his pitching forearm, and Castro entered the game. He'd go three innings, getting into a second run through an opponent's lineup for the first time, and he was terrific, blanking the Cubs on two hits and no walks, punching out four. All five outs he got aside from the strikeouts came on the ground. Here are the procedural alternatives as far as Castro is concerned: 1. He makes the team. Is it possible that he gets the long man spot that had been earmarked for Wasdin, or that Wilson gets that role, allowing Texas to suit both of them up for the opening series against Boston? 2. He lands on the disabled list. There's a chance that some sort of injury pops up, but Rule 5 dictates that he must be active for at least 90 days during the 2006 season, or else open the 2007 season on the active big league roster and stay there until he's been active for an aggregate of 90 days. 3. He gets traded. Don't rule out the possibility that some other team will trade something to Texas in order to take Castro and assume the Rule 5 constraints. 4. He's lost on waivers. Should the Rangers not find a way to make one of the first three alternatives work, they'll have to run Castro through waivers. If he clears, they must offer him back to the White Sox for $25,000 but can instead try and work out a trade, by which they send Chicago something for the right to keep Castro on the farm. But forget that possibility. Castro won't clear waivers. One thing to keep in mind is that the decision on a Rule 5 pick is not set irreversibly as of Opening Day. Texas can open with Castro on the staff and, if it's not working out, the club can try to run him through waivers during the season, recalling Wilson or Walker or Carlson or whomever at that point. If he has another couple outings like he did yesterday, Castro is going to make this team. Toss out the bad Royals game on March 9 (five runs in two-thirds of an inning), and the 5'7" lefty has thrown 9.1 innings (including an intrasquad frame on February 28), allowing one run on seven hits and five walks, setting 11 down on strikes. His upside is big.

Young lefty keeps up the good work By KAT O'BRIENStar-Telegram Staff Writer MESA, Ariz. -- The Rangers would love for left-handed reliever Fabio Castro to seize a roster spot with an excellent spring. Castro, a Rule V draftee, must remain on the active roster (unless injured) or be exposed to waivers. He has improved all spring, and Sunday's three-inning outing in the Rangers' 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs continued that trend. "He's the player of the day for me," Rangers pitching coach Mark Connor said, before even being asked. "He was good. I like the fact that he can change speeds and throws strikes. He's not scared out there. He gets after it." Castro came on in the second inning after starter Adam Eaton was hit by a line drive. He retired the first six batters he faced, and gave up only two hits and no walks in three innings while striking out four. Castro's three innings were an inning more than his previous spring high. Even Castro himself had to admit it had been his best outing yet. "I think so," Castro said. "It was excellent, especially because I pitched three innings without a lot of warning." His overall numbers don't look great for the spring (6.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched), but the totals are deceptive. Five of those runs came in a one-inning outing against Kansas City on March 9. Castro has pitched six shutout innings in his last three appearances, striking out 10 and walking four. Opponents have hit just .136 (3-of-22) against him in that time. "I'm impressed," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "The last three outings have been pretty good. ... He's got three pitches, effective to both lefties and righties. He appears to be more confident, which is a big thing with Rule V guys, to see how he handles the situation." Still, Castro, who turned 21 in January, has never pitched above the Class A level. Last year, he posted a 2.28 ERA in 79 innings over 53 outings at Class A Winston-Salem. There is significant competition for left-handed relief spots in the Rangers' bullpen. Brian Shouse and C.J. Wilson would seem to have the inside track to make the club, and Ron Mahay, Erasmo Ramirez and Kevin Walker are also under consideration. The Rangers will keep either two or three lefties. If one is able to fill a long relief role, it would be more feasible to hold on to three. Wilson, a former starter, is certainly capable of that, but the Rangers think he could be more valuable in short relief. The possibility of Castro working in long relief is intriguing. He has only four starts in 142 minor league appearances, but thinks he could go more than three innings and added he'd do as many as the Rangers want. "That's what we're looking at right now," manager Buck Showalter said, "looking to see if he might be a candidate for that." Castro, who is from the Dominican Republic, has spent a lot of time around veterans Francisco Cordero, Antonio Alfonseca and D'Angelo Jimenez this spring. That can only help him. "He's a pretty poised young man," Connor said. "He doesn't really seem to get flustered." Two areas Castro needs to work on are his curveball, which is improving, and not trying to overthrow with runners on base. But he is clearly on the radar for the Rangers. If he is not going to make the club, they can either trade him or try to pass him through waivers. He would be highly unlikely to clear waivers as a lefty who can touch 94 mph with his fastball. Deadpanned Daniels: "We might trade him to our bullpen is where we might trade him."

NMLR Rangers Farm Report: March 14th, 2006 Fabio Castro, coming off of a woeful performance late last week, was solid, fanning four of the eight hitters he faced in two hitless innings. He walked two good news for rangers fans!!!

I was looking thru some of the affiliates' websites, and it appears that Kevin Anderson works in the Birmingham Barons front office. Maybe that should explain away some of the confusion here.

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Dec 11, 2005 -> 09:33 PM) Young my prediction could lead the Minors in homers I am thinking 33-37 range. He hit 26 in Bham with a Futures game miss time the side injury which cost him 2 weeks of actual playing time then another week to get back to normal and the week + with the learning curve jump to AA to 26 homers in a cave and he was cheated a month of playing time. This season no learning curve and a extreme hitters park could easily justify 7 to 11 more homers. i'm having trouble understanding. maybe some more punctuation marks would make this easier to read. thanks!