The Minnesota Twins acquired Diego Castillo from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in exchange for considerations, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Castillo, 26, has no relation to the veteran reliever Diego Castillo, who also joined the Twins on a minor league deal last week. The versatile utilityman will give some quality infield depth as Royce Lewis is out with a quad injury. Castillo has been in six organizations since December, making it one interesting offseason for him. Castillo spent much of that time on the waive wire and he won’t be on Minnesota’s 40-man roster, as he had been outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man roster in February.
He will head right to the Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.
Diego Castillo Traded to the Minnesota Twins
Castillo bouncced around from the Arizona Diamondbacks, to the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles were lucky to get him through waivers in February. The club retained him without needing to give a spot on the 40-man roster. Castillo spent 2023 mostly with the DBacks Triple-A affiliate in Reno. He hit a robust .313/.431/.410 batting line while walking at a 17.4 percent clip against a 14.2 percent strikeout rate. Castillo played all over the field at second base, shortstop, third base and left field in Reno. He’s a .296/.410/.407 hitter in 177 games in Triple-A.
Profile on Castillo
Castillo doens’t have much power, but has a strong plus-hit tool, a reason why he doesn’t strikeout as much. He has a good eye at the plate with speed and tons of defensive versatility. Signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2016. But he spent time in the minors with the Pirates after he was traded in 2021. He slashed .278/.355/.487 with 19 home runs, 55 RBI and nine stolen bases in 105 games between Double-A Altoona Curve and Triple-A Indianapolis. Castillo made the Pirates Opening Day roster in 2022, collecting a .206/.251/.382 batting line in 96 games.
With the Twins third baseman out, top infield prospect Brookes Lee out until late April. They recalled Austin Martin to replace Lewis on the big league roster. His departure from St. Paul, on top of Lee’s injury, is likely why the Twins went out and got additional depth.
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