Trent "hearing" the 3rd player is Wilkin Castillo

Wilkin is one of those new cute little catchers.

He is quite versatile and, although not ranked as one of Arizona’s top 10 prospects in the preseason, he was named by Baseball America the Diamondback’s best defensive catcher.

2008 has been rough for him at the plate - 6-41.245 .294 .347 in AAA. He has had his moments, though, having gone 6-46-.302 .333 .437 in AA in 2007 when he made the Southern League all-star team.

Interestingly, he hit better in the 2005 in the pitcher-friendly Low-A Midwest League (.302 .346 .411) than he did in 2006 in the hitter’s haven that is the High-A California League (.285 .329 .390.) He doesn’t strike out nor walk much. He has developing power but isn’t likley to be a slugger. He can run, as his 18 SBs in 2007 show.

So, if it’s Dallas Buck, Micah Owings and Wilkin Castillo, that’s not bad. I’mnot jumping up and down, but it’s a decent return. I’d rather have had Kotchman and Marek that Atlanta got from Anaheim for Teixiera, but this will do for now.

A switch-hitting Dominican catcher with a quick bat, Castillo shows intriguing line-drive hitting skills. His strike zone judgment is weak and he doesn’t draw many walks, but he has a knack for making contact even on pitches he shouldn’t swing at. He probably won’t hit for a great deal of power, but if he can keep the batting average up he should be useful. Castillo is quite athletic and has good speed for a catcher, though he doesn’t use it very well on the bases and gets caught stealing too much. He has a strong arm and good defensive skills, and is athletic enough that he can even play middle infield in an emergency. I don’t think he’ll hit quite enough to start for a major league team, but he should get to the majors as a backup and could have a long career due to his versatility. Grade C.

Sounds like a Dusty guy to me.

I figured Scherzer was out of the question. So I then figured the best pair would be Owings and Castillo. So this isn’t horrible.

Castillo seems like he’ll be a handy guy to have around. He’ll have value as a utility guy, and if it helps push junk like Bako and Valentin off the roster, so much the better.

I could live with a catching duo next season of Hanigan and Castillo.

I’ve been a fan of Micah Owings for a few years, and yes, it’s more because of his bat than his arm, but I think moving him anywhere right now would be premature. He really only has about a year and a half in the minors (less than 200 innings) and he still put up a 4.30 ERA with a 1.28 WHIP in the majors last year. He needs to re-gain some control and do a better job keeping the ball in the park, but his stuff is above average and even if he just manages to pitch like he did last year, we end up with an above average starter who’s gonna give us some of the runs he gives up back just because he can rake. Given how our bench usually looks, he’ll probably be the best hitter on it when he’s not pitching.

Of course, if the pitching thing doesn’t work out then moving him to the OF seems like the best option, but it just seems silly to try and move a 25-year-old starter who has already experienced success in the major leagues after half a rough season.

A technical point, but there isn’t a guaranteed first-round pick for the team losing Dunn. Something like the top 15 picks are protected, and if a team signs two Type As it obviously can’t give both losing teams a first-round pick. So at best you only obtain a late first-rounder, and there is a good chance that you pick in the second round (which follows the sandwich round). In general I feel like people around here have been overvaluing the Dunn draft picks. Pwings, Buck and Castillo sound like they’re worth considerably more.

Owings is till first round value and you get him sans a 2 million dollar signing bonus.
Castillo and Buck are nice additions with some upside.
Jockety doesnt get enough credit for moving Griffey although that was probably more due to the idiocy of Kenny Williams. Trading a bottom 5 RF and receiving any salary relief and an actual player that may stick with the Reds is a major miracle.
If the numbers work that the Diamonbacks and the White Sox were splitting the salaries of Dunn and Griffey- the Reds save about 5 million. By trading for prospects rather than keeping the comp picks the Reds save another 2 million. So if they put this money back in the draft that would equate to drafting 3 players with signability issues next year.
And in the picture although most of the local criticism of Dunn is moronic. I do believe some trepidation is warranted in not wanting to sign him to a long-term deal. But I dont see Dunn getting close to a 100 million dollar offer and may have to sign a short term deal.

of the return for the ‘ol Donkey, I’ll reserve judgement until I get a reaction from sMarty and Doc. If they watch the guys play and hate them, it’s pretty likely that we got good quality players.

Is C. Trent Guildenstern the only one reporting this? This article claims it’s another pitcher. Thoughts?

My question is (and maybe it’s already been answered) Why couldn’t we have completed this deal before the trade deadline so that we didn’t have to put up with all of this waiver nonsense?

I’m so over him and so bored with this trade talk. So Crolfs how’s the forensic entomology going.

Or is this reason that you’re into bugs?’ Cause you get a free lifesife blow-up doll with each one?

You found ‘one’ at Band Camp?
one what?
VW
Blow-up doll
dead insect

Which Linclon?
Abe
Mike
George W. Lincoln