The Orioles announced that infielder Diego Castillo has gone unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. He remains in the organization and seems likely to get a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training.
It’s a resolution to what has likely been a tumultuous few weeks for Castillo. He has changed hands on waivers four times since being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks just before Christmas. Castillo briefly landed with each of the Mets, Yankees and Phillies. Philadelphia designated him for assignment a week ago to clear room for Kaleb Ort (whom they coincidentally subsequently DFA and traded to Baltimore yesterday). The O’s grabbed Castillo but DFA him themselves on Sunday when they acquired lefty reliever Matt Krook.
Baltimore succeeded in sneaking him through waivers unclaimed and keeping him around in a non-roster capacity. Castillo is clearly of intrigue to a number of teams as a depth option. The Venezuela native has shown strong contact skills in the minors. He owns a .296/.410/.407 batting line over parts of three Triple-A seasons, including a .313/.431/.410 slash for Arizona’s top affiliate a year ago.
That didn’t translate into MLB success during Castillo’s rookie campaign with the Pirates. The righty hitter put up a .206/.251/.382 showing in 96 games with Pittsburgh two seasons ago. He only appeared at the major league level once for Arizona last year. Castillo figures to open the 2024 campaign in Norfolk behind a deep collection of infield talent on the Baltimore 40-man roster.