The Los Angeles Angels signed catcher Jason Castro of Castro Valley, CA from the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday. The terms of the deal are one year and worth $6.85 million according to the Associated Press.
At 32 years of age, Castro has spent the last three seasons with the Twins. Prior to 2017, Castro played six seasons with the Houston Astros.
In 2019 with the Twins, Castro batted .232 with 13 home runs and 30 runs batted in. During his 275 plate appearances, Castro had 237 at bats, scored 39 runs, collected 55 hits, nine doubles, 33 walks, a .332 on base percentage, .435 slugging percentage, 103 total bases, one sacrifice bunt and one sacrifice fly.
The Angels will want to see Castro play more in 2020 than he has the last two seasons. In 2018, he only played 19 games due to season ending knee surgery in May and in 2019 was out with an elbow injury.
Los Angeles will be hoping that Castro improves his overall offensive production as well. In 2018, he batted 57 points below the Mendoza line at .143 in 19 games. Then last year, Castro improved his batting average to .232, and one percentage point above his Major League Baseball career average of .231. However the Angels will be hoping they get the Castro who hit the baseball with consistency while with the Astros.
Once in Castro’s career he was an all-star. That came in 2013 with the Astros. While with Houston, Castro batted .276 with 18 home runs and 56 runs batted in. Castro then had 56 runs batted in again in 2014.
While with the Astros and Twins, Castro played in the postseason. He was with the Astros when they reached the American League Divisional Series in 2015 and then the Twins when they played the American League Wildcard Game against the New York Yankees in 2017.
The loss of Castro means Mitch Garver of Albuquerque, NM will be the everyday catcher for the Twins in 2020. Last season, Garver batted .273 with 31 home runs and 67 runs batted in. There is no doubt that the offensive power Garver showcased in 2019 made Castro expendable.
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