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The Reds continue to get the hitting.
Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos and the Cincinnati Reds are in agreement on a multiyear contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. @ctrent and @Ken_Rosenthal were on it.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2020
Mark Sheldon is reporting the deal covers four years with the 27-year-old Castellanos.
It's a four-year deal for OF Nick Castellanos and the #reds, sources told me. It was @TheAthleticMLB with the first report. Another huge move for Cincinnati this offseason.
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) January 27, 2020
Early word on the terms:
Castellanos deal is for 4 years believed to be for 16M a year. Plus opt out(s) #reds
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 27, 2020
The four-year, $64 million deal matches the recently signed Mike Moustakas for the largest deal given to a free agent in Reds history. There’s an opt-out for Castellanos after one year.
The opt-out in Nicholas Castellanos' four-year, $64 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds is after the first season, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2020
Nothing wrong with this clause from the Reds point of view. Castellanos would need a great 2020 season for opting-out to make sense. In that case, Reds would have purchased it for $16 million and then escape the downside risk of the out-years. And if you believe players are motivated by contract years (there’s mixed evidence for this), the opt-out incentivizes Castellanos.
Adding $16 million to Reds payroll pushes their total to about $142 million, which would be a record high. League average in 2019 was $138 million. The Reds ’19 Opening Day payroll was $127 million.
Maybe not one, but two opt-out clauses in the contract. One after 2020, the other after 2021.
Per source, Castellanos' deal with the Reds has TWO opt-out clauses, after both the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 27, 2020
Check back here today for more details and commentary.
A report yesterday from Jon Morosi of MLB.com that the Reds were “clear” leaders in signing Castellanos and that progress had been made, seemed like an indication this was more than standard Hot Stove fodder.
In November, Matt Wilkes wrote about Castellanos and his potential fit with the Reds. About Castellanos’ at the plate, Matt wrote:
“Castellanos brings a solid mix of contact and power to his game with a career .277 average and .471 slugging percentage. His swing plane (15.2° career launch angle) makes him more of a gap hitter than a home-run threat. Since 2015, only Mookie Betts has more doubles than Castellanos (198). Doubles tend to get suppressed slightly in Great American Ball Park due to small outfield, but not enough to be a major concern for someone who hits them at an elite clip. As far as platoon splits go, Castellanos mashes left-handed pitching (career 137 wRC+). He’s no slouch against righties (104 wRC+), but his game goes to the next level against southpaws. … If there’s one red flag in his offensive game, it’s the aforementioned plate approach. Castellanos is an aggressive hitter, with a 36.5% chase rate and just a 6.4% walk rate for his career. He has quite a bit swing and miss to his game as well (14.2 SwStr%), although his strikeout rate isn’t quite in alarming territory (23.0%).”
On the other side of the ball, Castellanos has been pretty poor defensively. More Matt:
“Now we get to the reason Castellanos isn’t regarded as one of the best players in the game. His defense isn’t just bad — it’s among the worst in baseball. …In 2019, Castellanos was exactly average in reaction time — an improvement over 2018, when he covered 0.8 fewer feet in the first 1.5 seconds compared to other outfielders. He really struggles in the next 1.5 seconds, however, coming in at 1.9 feet below average. Only 13 outfielders had a slower burst. His route efficiency was also poor; compared to the average outfielder, he ran an additional 0.5 unnecessary feet on fly balls.”
Matt’s conclusion:
“If the mission of the offseason is improving the offense, Castellanos checks that box. He should have several years of strong production left at his young age. … If any National League team is well-equipped to deal with Castellanos’ defense, though, it’s the Reds. The pitching staff was second (by the slimmest of margins: 0.1 percentage points) in the league in strikeout rate in 2019 at 25.6%. More strikeouts means fewer balls in play and fewer opportunities for bad defenders to burn the team. The Reds were also sixth in ground-ball rate (44.3%), which can also limit the damage poor outfielders can do if it continues.
Castellanos isn’t the perfect fit, but he would help address Cincinnati’s biggest need next season and beyond.”
A tasty bit of fan service:
Just going to leave this here for #Reds fans.
Here are all 27 HR Nicholas Castellanos hit in 2019 in under 90 seconds. pic.twitter.com/16R3y3O0ja
— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) January 27, 2020
[Featured image: https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1159627529759711232/photo/2]
Reds trades from last year, to me, have forced there hand to push harder for contention now. Senzel on the trading block per heyman. IMO, Reds need to keep adding as we have one year of Bauer and two top 100 prospects.
The Brewers were very aggressive 2 off-seasons ago and it paid off. I like the moves.