Cubs Make Offer to Luis Castillo
The Cubs’ neverending quest to combine the best elements of last year’s Pittsburgh Pirates’ and Florida Marlins’ position players continues. Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the Marlins thought they had free agent second baseman Luis Castillo all ready to sign a new three-year contract, until the Cubs came in and made a competitive offer:
[Castillo representative Seth] Levinson would not divulge details of his negotiations, but an industry source said the Chicago Cubs entered the bidding Friday with an offer that was “very competitive” with the Marlins’ three-year, $15.5 million bid.
Like the Marlins, the Cubs apparently are willing to include a fourth-year vesting option based on the number of plate appearances Castillo makes over the next three seasons. The Marlins’ offer would make that additional year worth $6 million, pushing the total package to a potential $21.5 million for the 28-year-old switch-hitter.
Who knows how ready Castillo really was to re-sign with the Marlins. The Mets have also reportedly offered him a contract, and the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers are also all interested, according to the article.
Castillo, 28, hit .314/.381/.397 last year in his fifth full season, good for an adjusted OPS 4.5% above the league average. That’s the second time he’s finished the year with an adjusted OPS above league average, the other year being 2000. For his career, he has an adjusted OPS 4% below league average.