The Angels have signed left-handed hitting Catcher Jason Castro to a 1-year deal worth $6.85M.
Jason Castro was a 1st round draft pick by the Houston Astros in the 2008 amateur draft out of Stanford University. Castro has played in 9 seasons in the majors, while playing for the Houston Astros (2010, 2012-2016) and the Minnesota Twins (2016-2019). He is coming off of a season in which he hit .232/.332/.435 and hit 9 Doubles, 13 Home Runs while driving in 30 runs in 79 games.
Castro is a 1-time All-Star which occurred in 2013 season in which he had a career-high in Runs (63), Hits (120), Doubles (35), Home Runs (18), RBI (56), Walks (50), Batting Average (.276), On-Base Percentage (.350), and slugging (.485).
Castro still rates as an above-average pitch framer entering his age 33 season and is still one of the better hitting catchers in the big leagues as well. He has hit pretty well in his career as he has hit .231/.313/.390 with 148 Doubles, 9 Triples, 86 Home Runs while driving in 292 Runs while Walking 302 times to 843 Strikeouts in 825 games.
The Angels will likely platoon Castro and right-handed hitting Catcher Max Stassi as Stassi is one of the best pitch framers in all of Baseball. Stassi, whom the Angels acquired in July, is recovering from hip surgery he had in late-September and might miss a few weeks into Spring Training.
If Stassi does indeed end up missing some of the regular seasons, the Angels also have Anthony Bemboom, who also hits left-handed as depth on the 40-man roster.
Featured Image: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
