Red Sox manager John Farrell calls Rusney Castillo ‘a shorter Yasiel Puig’
By Dan Zinski
Have the Boston Red Sox just bought themselves a mini-Yasiel Puig? Comparing anyone to Puig is a little dangerous, but Red Sox skipper John Farrell had no problem going there when talking about newly-signed Cuban star Rusney Castillo.
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Farrell did take care to note that Castillo falls short of Puig in one vital area (via WEEI):
"He’s obviously a very strong-looking athlete. Maybe a little bit of a shorter version of [Yasiel] Puig. You get a similar proportion to that type of body, so what that means performance-wise, we’ll see, but we’re confident in the athleticism and the overall strength."
The Red Sox are gambling $72.5 million over seven years that Castillo can become the latest Cuban defector to emerge as a star in major league baseball. So, from John Farrell’s lips to God’s ears, I guess.
Farrell does admit that he hasn’t seen a lot of his new outfielder, but it was enough for him to make a determination about Castillo’s athletic ability:
"“There’s not a lot [of video] available, actually,” Farrell said. “I’ve seen a couple of clips of him taking BP or him running, looks to be an explosive type of player.”"
Despite the lack of tape on Castillo, teams had no problem bidding fiercely on his services. If Castillo ends up as good as Puig, it will be money well spent by the Red Sox. If not? They’re the Red Sox, they’ll get over it.
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