The Major League Baseball offseason is about to kick into high gear. Last week we took a look at five free agents who we thought could help the Twins in 2017.
It appears the Twins have some interest in one of them, but it looks like they’re not alone.
The Twins and representatives of catcher Jason Castro plan to meet again this week, but his services appear to be in high demand across the American League.
Sources: Catching market heating up. Jason Castro sitting on offers from at least three AL teams. He's in top tier with Ramos and Wieters.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 11, 2016
MLBTradeRumors.com reports that the Angels, White Sox, Orioles and Rays also have interest in Castro.
That could put the Twins in a bidding war for the lifetime .232 hitter. But Twins Daily notes that Minnesota may be in position to do just that.
The question facing new Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and new GM Thad Levine: is Castro worth it, if his price climbs to $10 million a year?
Castro’s value
Castro, 29, isn’t far removed from his lone All Star appearance in 2013. That season he hit .276 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs with 35 doubles and scored 63 runs.
But he has not duplicated those numbers since then. In fact, his batting average has dipped every year. Last season he hit just .210 with 11 home runs in 113 games.
But his value gets a major boost when defensive analytics are factored in.
Unfortunately production is only part of the equation. It appears the demand for catching outweighs the supply for it this year – meaning there are few options to help the Twins fill their catching void.
Castro is in the top tier of available catchers, but health questions surround the other two – Wilson Ramos and Matt Wieters.
The best of the rest include names like Alex Avila, Dioner Navarro and Kurt Suzuki, none of whom would really improve Minnesota’s situation from last year.
So whether they like it or not, the Twins may need to be all in on Castro.
