OK, the Mariners seem to continue exploring a Jon Jay signing.  2 years/$14M M seems to be the MLBT-R Over/Under contract amount.  I wouldn't be surprised if it is less than that.   Jay is a classic 4th OF, without much platoon split, (Career .289-.354-.392 vR/.288-.359-.353 vL).  He can go play CF, although last season the Cubs saw fit to only give him 16 starts there.  He's been a negative dWAR guy the past two seasons, so he doesn't really stand up to the glovey reputation he has.   He's hit 8 HR's in his last 1500 PA's.  All in all, he's a fine, but popless, MLB'er.  He would be sort of a blase signing, to be sure.  I would prefer that we didn't, but imagine that we might be heading down that path.  I'm just not big on a guy who might hit 3 HR's for you next year, unless his name is Rod Carew or something.  I'm not really interested in bringing Jarrod Dyson back, although he seems to be a popular clubhouse guy and he does bring a glove.  But Dyson really needs to be used in very limited amounts, it seems, to get the most out of him, especially during the 2nd half of seasons.  

After those guys, there really aren't any decent FA's that fit our needs; relative low cost, a CF glove, and (my desire) some pop.  I wouldn't kick at a trade for the Cardinals' Randall Grichuk, but I'm not holding my breath at all.

So I've looked around at wild card options who you might get and who might have an upside.  Roll the dice type of guys.  I recently pointed out that the Dodgers released one of their Cubans, Jose Miguel Fernandez.  He's not really an OFer,  but he did show some surprising pop andfter a swing change in AA last season.  A guy like him is still 2 months of AAA hitting away from a call up.  He's interesting but a real reach. 

But there is another Cuban who could likely be had, a guy who is frozen out where he is and who would bring a glove with a bit of pop.  He would be a wild get, but I'm ready to walk on the wild side, a bit. 

Rusney Castillo, by name.

OK, I know that some Red Sox fans consider Castillo the worst FA signing in Boston history.  He famously came north and was inked to a 6 yr/$70M contract.  He's still owed 3 and about $38M.  He's had a total of 337 MLB PA's, and none were in '17.  His career line is .262-.301-.379.  Boston has even removed him from the 40-Man roster, a move that means they don't have to count his salary against the luxury tax, unless he gets MLB time..  Even if they trade him with subsidy, that subsidy counts agains their luxury tax.  Castillo is sort of stuck, getting a big paycheck, but with little chance of escaping Pawtucket. But the right deal just might make sense for Boston and for the Mariners.

First things first, Castilo brings a + glove.  His most extensive MLB time was in '15, when he started 61 times.  Only 2 of those games were in CF, but he earned a +1.4 dWAR in those 61 starts.  He's had 156 CF starts for Pawtucket over the past two seasons, so he is no stranget to the position.  He's made 4 errors in those 156 starts, with a range factor of 2.67.  Jarrod Dyson had 778 CF stars last season, made 2 errors, with a Rf/9 of 2.69.  Castillo even had 9 CF assists, which isn't in Dyson territory, but will do.  Here's a view of his arm:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4dOKlycX50   He're a throw to make Ichiro proud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSopEFEhfYY   And here are two clips of his range:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6JBaDB__s   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSKY9gn95ME

OK, glove established:  If you look more closely at Castillo's bat, you find some interesting things.  For example, his MLB vL split is .309-.340-.443 wtih just 17 K's in 103 PA's.  In '15, the only year he had significant playing time he split .318-.351-.466.  In '16, in the pitcher friendly AAA International League, he was .301-.318-.427 vL and last year it was .395-.422-.663!  Let's just say that the guy is a best bet to hit LHP.  His vR performance in '17 was .287-.326-.456, career bests, as were the 15 HR's he hit last season.  

For his career, he's started 79 MLB ballgames and been worth 1.7 WAR.

Here's Castillo's first MLB HR, from '14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2q2ZqYOtDg

And here's an opposite field jack (his 2nd of the game) that he hit in Syracuse last season:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py_jGd_h3ic

I know, there are problems with his contract ($11.8M, $11.8M, $14.2M), big ones.  But he's dead stuck down on the Pawtucket farm for Boston, getting rich, but with no place to go.  The question isn't really about his ability, but about how much Boston subsidizes a Castillo trade.  To mitigate risk, you would want to get the BoSox to buy down almost all of his "20 salary, and maybe such a deferred hit to the luxury tax would work with them.  And you would want them to eat some '19 salary, too.  

This is doable stuff, if the interest is there.

But I won't be surprised if Boston is using Castillo as a part of any trade talks for Stanton, if they are really interested in Stanton. 

Anyway, Doc's been enjoying the holidays and I had tme on my hand.  Plus,  I like this type of trade, as there is an on-field upside, more than your typical Jon Jay brings, that could be pretty helpful.  It would take some creativity to put it together, but it could be done.  Likely the biggest issue is that he doesn't mesh well with Heredia, in terms of platoon splits, in fact they are similar players.   That alone likely makes any trade a non-starter.  But I like this Castillo guy.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

Keith