To say the White Sox have not gotten any value out of their contract for Welington Castillo is a massive understatement. It's been disastrous. With how much Castillo has struggled this season and with the progression of prospect Zack Collins, now the White Sox front office will have to make a decision on Castillo.
Castillo came off a career season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2017 after slugging .282 with 20 home runs, 53 RBIs, .323 on-base percentage, .490 slugging percentage and .813 OPS. He also was regarded as a great defensive catcher as his fielding percentage was .991 in 2015, .992 in 2016, and .994 in 2017. He was a cheaper, but seemingly productive catcher on the market and the Sox decided to offer him a contract. It seemed like a good deal at the time.
It turned out to not be one. It was a two year deal for $15 million and an option for 2020, so it was a reasonably cheap deal and it actually makes things easier to digest. In 2018, he hit .259 with six home runs, 15 RBIs, .304 OBP, .406 slugging percentage, and .710 OPS, but he was suspended 80 games due to a PED violation. Not exactly a great first season, though in the 49 games he played his fielding percentage was .997 (more of a sample size, but it did suggest that he was strong defensively ).
2019 has been even more of a disaster as in the 26 games played he is slashing .176 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, .286 OBP, .318 slugging percentage, and .603 OPS which results in a -0.4 WAR. It's not only bad, it might warrant the two parting ways. The club can deal with eating up $7.5 million at this point. It gets even worse, his fielding has been atrocious as his fielding percentage is .977 with three passed balls. And while he has historically been a good defensive catcher, his framing was always an issue. In 2017, there were some positives as his framing rate was 1.6. Since he's been with the Pale Hose? -5.4 in 2018 and -2.5 in 2019. That is abysmal.
So what should they do with Castillo? While he is just coming off the injured list due to a concussion, these next two weeks should be telling whether he should stay or go, but honestly, it's time to cut ties with him. Castillo has not lived up to his contract and he has not done what was asked of him when the team signed him, so the best course of action is to designated him for assignment.
So, after he's off the roster, what should the team do? There are actually two options. One of those is recall Seby Zavala and make him the backup catcher. Zavala might benefit becoming the backup as the Sox are high on him and it will give James McCann a chance to hit everyday as he is having a breakout season. The other option is to promote prospect Zack Collins and see what he can do. While he is not blowing away AAA with his average (it's a bit of an overrated stat anyways), he has been productive and does have a big bat. Also, the team has been very excited about the progress of his defense. However, this is his first time at the AAA level, so probably giving him another month or two would be wise. There is no need to rush him as he is in the plans for the future.
This was an easy call, cutting Castillo is the best thing to do if the team wants more productivity and the best decision to replace him at this moment is recalling Zavala. Castillo has been just a waste of money and is doing more harm than good for this team. He is also not in any future plans for the Sox, so this makes it an even easier decision. These next two weeks will be the writing on the wall for Castillo.
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