Mariners shore up catching with trade for Cubs’ Welington Castillo
The Chicago Cubs pulled off a trade with the Seattle Mariners, sending catcher Welington Castillo to Seattle for reliever Yoervis Medina.
Offensive production from the catcher’s spot in the line-up is a rarity in baseball. In fact, the average production from Major League catchers in 2015 has been a measly .235/.301/.365 slash-line with three home runs and 16 RBI. Needless to say, catching is not the offensive position it has been in years past.
However, you do want some semblance of production out of every spot in the line-up, and the Seattle Mariners, who rank 27th in Major League Baseball with a .165 average out of their tandem of Mike Zunino and Jesus Sucre, could no longer get by with the status quo.
On Tuesday, the Mariners struck a deal to acquire catcher Welington Castillo from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for reliever Yoervis Medina, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
The 28-year-old Castillo, who is the classic offense first catcher, broke out in 2013, when he hit .274/.349/.397 with eight home runs and 37 RBI while splitting time with Dioner Navarro in Chicago. Handed the full-time role in 2014, the results were not quite as encouraging. While the power spiked, with Castillo hitting 13 home and driving in 46, his batting line declined to .237/.296/.686. Likewise, his defense also declined under a larger workload, with Castillo dipping from 19 defensive runs saved in 2013 to just five in 2014.
That dip led the Cubs to look for upgrades for the 2015 season. The first such move came in the form of Miguel Montero, who the Cubs acquired in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Chicago then added David Ross to serve as Jon Lester’s personal catcher. Those changes have been hugely beneficial for the Cubs, who rank 8th in baseball with a .279/.379/.465 batting line from their catching tandem.
In return, the Cubs will add some needed bullpen depth in the form of Yoervis Medina. The 26-year-old Medina has averaged 64 appearances out of the Mariners bullpen over the last two seasons, posting a 2.81 ERA, a 3.67 FIP, and an exceptional 9.4 K/9 ratio. However, after starting the season with a 5.3 BB/9 ratio and watching his strike-out rate fall to 6.8 K/9, he’ll start his Cubs career with Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs will work on improving Medina’s control while also trying to figure out why his fastball velocity is down from 94.9 MPH in 2014 to a career-low 92.4 MPH.
Medina’s pedigree should help him add to a Cubs bullpen that has struggled to get quality innings out of it’s right-hander relief corp.
(h/t MLB Trade Rumors)
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