On Friday, a Red Sox team source announced the landing of Cuban outfielder, Rusney Castillo to a 7 years, 72.5 million dollars deal. The 72.5 million is the highest total value ever for a Cuban player, so the Sox really believe that Castillo can really help get them back on top in 2015 after this mediocre 2014 season. The deal will take effect this season, so we should expect to see the Sox's promising new addition in some of the last 35 games left in the 2014 regular season. Hopefully, Castillo can bring some energy to Red Sox Nation that is desperately needed in this season. I an interview today Rusney Castillo said, "It really means a lot for me to be able to be a part of such an historic organization and I'm ecstatic to be here."
Castillo is an electric 27 year old right fielder, second baseman, shortstop, and most often center fielder from the top baseball league in Cuba, the Ciego de Avila league. Rusney Castillo stands at 5-foot-9, 210 pounds, but is very strong. "He is more of a doubles hitter than a home run threat, charging into the ball with a line drive right-handed swing", according to Baseball America. Red Sox manager John Farrell describes their young new outfielder as having "Over-average speed. Can play center and right field. Castillo is an exciting, aggresive and athletic player by all acounts." Farrell also says that according to the Sox's scouts, Castillo has power to hit the long ball and is a excellent base stealer, stealing 22 of 29 attempted in 2012. Rusney Castillo was one of the better players in Cuba batting over .320 in the 2010-11 and 2011-2012 seasons. But, he became most known for his incredible play for Cuba in the 2011 World Cup for Baseball when he was 21-41 at the plate with a batting average of .512. In 2013, Castillo did not play for Cuba's national team in the World Baseball Clasic because, before he left Cuba last December, Rusney Castillo was suspended from the Cuban team for "A violation of the code of ethics of revolutionary baseball", which indicated that Castillo had tried to defect from Cuba before.Many scouts have compared Rusney Castillo skills sets to stars like Yasiel Puig and the Red Sox own Yoenis Cespedes, (both players from Cuba) so this investment of over 72 million dollars could turn out exceptionally well for the Sox. Espn.com's Jayson Stark spoke to a talent evaluator that compared Rusney Castillo to Pittsburgh Pirates' phenom center fielder Andrew McCutchen.
With Rusney Castillo in the Sox's organization now, the Red Sox should be a team to fear in the 2015 season with young talent like Cespedes and Holt also. There will also be lots of discussions in the future about all of the Red Sox's depth in the outfield and how they will choose the starters with all of the young promising outfielders. Castillo has not played organized baseball for a year, so the Red Sox are going to try to get him into some Minor League games if they are still going on by the time that Castillo gets his deal situated. We are going to have to wait for more information in the future, to find out where Rusney Castillo's promising potential will make its exhilarating American baseball career's start.
Below is a great video of highlights of the Boston Red Sox's new electric addition, Rusney Castillo's with his many different talents on the diamond. Copy and Paste the video URL to internet search tab to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci14LWlYGKI
Sources- ESPN, ESPN Boston
No comments:
Post a Comment