Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Emergency Bonus Pod: Mariners Ink Luis Castillo to Five-Year, $108 Million Extension!

Episode Date: September 24, 2022

Luis Castillo has officially signed a five-year, $108 million extension with a $25 million vesting option for 2028 with the Mariners! Ty and special co-host Ben Ranieri jump on the mics for a quick emergency episode to offer up their initial thoughts on the deal.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11 | @BenRanieri10For more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Another day, another extension from the Seattle Mariners. This time, it's Luis Castillo, and a bit earlier than expected. But hey, we'll take it. Thanks for tuning into the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Let's get into it. You are Locked on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network.

Your team every day. It is Saturday, September 24th, 2022. This is Taday Gonzalez for an emergency episode of the Locked on Mariners podcast. Brought to you by Bedon. Online. Bet Online has you covered all season long with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. Bet Online is where the game starts. I am joined today by Ben Rennery of Inside the Mariners. Colby is at a charity walk this afternoon. So I asked Ben to come through. And Ben has been a credential reporter covering the Mariners. And we're planning on him being a part of the show a

little more going forward. So be sure to give him a warm welcome down in the comments below if you're watching on YouTube. And Ben, thank you so much for jumping on today. kind of short notice welcome to the show how are you i'm doing great thanks for having me excited to be here yeah i appreciate you uh coming on um i reached out to colby you know this time so he doesn't get all upset that i you know i abandon him i left him uh out you know hanging out to dry he did get an invite to the show and you know he's he's out doing his thing today so ben again thank you for uh for jumping on it's a special occasion too because the mariners have signed Luis Castillo to a five-year extension worth $108 million.

There's also a vesting option in 2028. That's worth $25 million. We'll get into those numbers a little later on, though. Don't you worry about that. But first, Ben, I just kind of want to get your initial thoughts on the deal. What do you think about it? I mean, initially, I think it's just, it's really exciting. It's just Jerry Depoto and his crew, just another example of them being creative.

and getting a deal done with a young and exciting player. Yeah, he'll be age 30 in December, and he has a long track record of success. So, I mean, I think it totally makes sense for both sides kind of in the same vein as the Julio deal. Yeah, and I think, you know, for me, the first thing that comes across my mind is the timing, right? Because, like, I didn't expect that this.

I expected that they were going to sign him to an extension this, off season, but not right now. But I think the timing, honestly, couldn't be better considering the way that the Mariners are playing baseball right now. I think it's a good morale boost for that clubhouse and a good morale boost for this fan base. Because if you looked at our comment section on yesterday's video, it's starting to get a little dark. Vanz are a little, little panicked right now. So I think this allows us to maybe revert back to neutral here at the very least. It's something that's positive news.

It's something that's great news. And look, now the Mariners have Robbie Ray, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby set up for years to come in this rotation. That's an incredible foundation for a rotation. And, you know, again, we haven't even seen the best from George Kirby. We haven't even seen the best from Logan Gilbert. The more that those guys grow, we're going to see them get better and better and better. And then to have two really, you know, some of the best veteran pitchers in the, game with Robbie Ray and Luis Castillo at the top of the rotation. This is going to be one of

the best rotations. I mean, it's set up to be one of the best rotations in baseball for a very long time. And, you know, of course, on top of that, you know, they have Emerson Hancock. They have Taylor Dollar. They have other guys that are going to be coming up through the system. Of course, they still have Marco Gonzalez. We'll see if Chris Flexen wants to opt in or opt out of his contract at the end of this year. But they have arms. They have a lot of arms and they have a lot of intriguing arms to build this rotation out of. And that's great because you're going to need pitching in this division for years to come because the Rangers are going to get better.

The angels are still, you know, while they're incredibly mediocre, you know, on paper, they still have two of the, you know, greatest players in the world, at least for the next year. And, you know, of course, the Astros, right? The Astros are always going to be dangerous. So you need the pitching and the Mariners right now investing in the rotation and then some. and we'll get into the numbers, like I said, a little later on, kind of surprised by the numbers on this one. But it's a great day to be a Mariners fan

because Luis Castillo is going to be pitching in this uniform for a very, very long time. Yeah, and he's pitching tomorrow. It's exciting. And he's pitching tomorrow. Yeah, and hopefully not Kurt Casale catching him because it hasn't gone very well with his old battery mate Casale. Hopefully they get Raleigh in there

because that's been a much better tandem this far. But yeah, I mean, you know, you've been around this clubhouse. You've seen this clubhouse since, you know, the trade deadline and everything. I mean, you know, what do you think this means for them? What do you think this signifies to them? I mean, I think this is a clubhouse, obviously, that's, I mean, it's just filled with a lot of really, truly, like, good guys with good energy. And honestly, so far, for whatever you want to say about,

Jesse Winker on the field. Everybody that they brought over from Cincinnati has been well welcomed into that clubhouse. And I know that everyone from Cincinnati, Gino, and Winker were really excited to get Castillo in the clubhouse. And I think it's just kind of a continuation of this culture that they're building. And it's been a big part of them being able to come back and win some of these games. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. So we're going to be getting into the numbers of the Cassio extension. Just a moment. But real quick, a reminder of this episode of Lockdown, Mariners, is brought to you by

betonline.net. Betonline. net is your number one source for football betting info this season. Find all of the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth articles and analysis on every game you can find. And as always, bet online remains your continued source for all your sport wagering information with live betting and up to the minute. scores for every sport out there. It is the fastest and easiest way to check in on all your

favorite games and events, including MLB, MMA, boxing, and golf. Head to betonline.net or use your mobile device to learn more. Betonline is where the game starts. And you're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Thank you so much for joining us on your Saturday here for this emergency episode. So Ben, let's get on into these numbers here on the Castillo extension. Again, it is is a five-year extension on top of his last year of arbitration. They're buying out the last year of arbitration here for Castillo, which was going to come in around $12 million. He's going to end up getting $10 million next year,

along with a $7 million signing bonus right this second. So that actually makes it around $24.5 million an annual salary for the years of free agency that they bought out here. So it's a little higher than what Robbie Ray got this past off season because when you look at the $108 million over five years, it's like, oh, well, he actually ended up getting around $21.5 million, which is a couple million dollars less than Robbie Ray. But Jeff Pass and a VSPN had been saying, and his radio hits on 710 Seattle Sports that he, you know, kind of looked at the Joe Musgrove deal, which was about five years, $100 million. And then the Robbie Ray deal, which was, you know, five years, $115 million is kind of the starting point for. Castillo. He ends up landing somewhere here in the middle. But to me, you know, obviously, you know, congratulations to Luis Castillo getting paid. That's awesome. Congratulations to him and

his family. But this is kind of a bargain for for the Mariners, in my opinion, because, you know, I don't think that he's, you know, in that top echelon of starting pitchers, you know, the, the Jacob de Grombs of the world. But those guys are making 40, 45 million dollars a year. I think he's kind of in that tier just below them or maybe, you know, one tier below that. To me, you know, I've said this on this show and a couple of other shows that I've done that I would pay $30 million a year for Luis Castillo for that kind of pitcher, especially with the way that inflation is going right now in the league. So this to me is an absolute seal for the Mariners.

Do you feel the same? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think for a guy with a career three and change, three and a half, ERA, mostly in Great American Ballpark. I mean, he's already thrown 54 innings in a American uniform, just 17 in runs, which is about a 2.83 ERA. I think he has the potential to get better being in T-Mobile Park and being away from like just the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark. And he's also arguably like, Got just as good of a track record as Robbie, if not better in terms of ERA and some of the other numbers.

So I love it. I love it. Well, and, you know, I don't think we haven't really, or I don't think we've really seen the best of Luis Castillo yet since he's come over to the Mariners. The changeup has kind of been lagging behind. I mean, that's a true like 75 grade, 80 grade offering there. And I don't think we've seen that really reach its ceiling yet. So there's still things that can be tapped into here with Castillo. That's, I mean, that's really exciting.

And, you know, he's your rotational ace. There aren't many pitchers in the game that are better than Luis Castillo. So being able to lock him down for this kind of contract, instead of, you know, letting this linger on into next year, letting this linger on into this off season and potentially into next off season where, you know, he could go test the free agent market. I mean, that's huge. And it speaks, you know, wonders to just the Mariners organization as a whole

that this guy came from outside the organization. And just in a couple, you know, in a few weeks time, he's decided he wants to stay here. You know, he wants to be here for pretty much the prime of his career. I mean, that's basically what he just signed up for. So that's pretty special just kind of going back to, you know, what this means for this organization. So there's also, you know, a couple of other notes that that we need to cover here with this deal. There is a vesting option in 28.

And he has to, let's see here, I'm trying to read the, the Jeff Passan article here. It says he needs to throw at least 180 innings in 2027 for the for the option to vest and that's going to be a $25 million option. If if he's able to reach that 180 inning count. The other thing here as well, which is really interesting, Jerry DePoto, getting creative, being creative as ever, put in basically what is a,

Tommy John Clause that if he requires UCL repair between 2025 and 2027 and is forced to miss 130 plus days because of the injury, the Mariners will get a $5 million option for 2028 instead of the vesting option. And this is really similar to something that the past regime did with Felix Hernandez. thanks to Luke Arkins of prospect and insider for pointing this out, but the Mariners had a similar clause in Felix's contract extension that if he had to undergo any sort of UCL repair, they would get a $1 million option for the 2020 season. Of course, you know, that didn't happen. But, you know, so the Mariners also adding a little bit of a safety net in here for themselves as well if Castillo has to undergo a significant arm procedure. And, you know, of course, he's had some shoulder issues. He's had some injury concerns in the past. So that's probably what was the driving force there.

But yeah, so now just kind of, you know, looking at the deal overall. It's a really team friendly deal, in my opinion. And yeah, I mean, again, this locks down, you know, one of the best rotations in all of baseball for years and years to come. I mean, how fun is this? this going to be to watch this rotation pitch for the next, you know, at least four years. That seems to be, you know, or I mean, that's how much longer they have Ray under contract. So for the next four years, I mean, how fun is this going to be to watch these guys pitch?

I mean, it's going to be amazing, especially when you consider the fact that Castillo's already, in my opinion, at least a pretty high level, like two in a rotation. And you got a guy like George Kirby who's been, he's been pitching. arguably better than Castillo for a while now. Like we have no like really idea what Kirby's ceiling could be. So the fact that you have two up-and-comers, like Gilbert and Kirby, that have already shown so much in their young careers.

And then two guys with pretty good track records that have already been super impactful down the stretch run here for the Mariners. And Robbie Ray and Castillo, it's going to be really exciting. And they don't have to be done. like they can fill that fifth spot. They don't want to roll with Marco anymore. Like there's still impact that can be added here. And I don't think it's out of the question that this rotation could be, you know,

top three in baseball next year. Like it's set up pretty well. And, you know, think about it. Even if they don't add someone to the back end of the rotation in the off season, they're so, you know, Emerson, Hancock, Taylor, Dahlia, those arms are very intriguing. I mean, Hancock at one point we felt had the ceiling of an ace. maybe have cooled off on that a little bit just because of the injuries and everything that he's sustained. But that's still a, and to me, a middle of the rotation arm, you know, he's kind of still like he's not George Kirby, but he might be Logan Gilbert.

You know, so that's, I mean, if you can add another arm like that to this rotation, I mean, that's, that's going to be incredibly difficult for the AOS and just the rest of Major League Baseball to deal with for the next, you know, half decade. Yeah, I mean, this is just the Mariners are building something incredibly special with this pitching staff because on top of that they have one of the best bullpins in the world right now. And of course, you know, that could change in a matter of an offseason's time because bullpins are ultimately volatile. But when you just when you look at the way that this organization has been able to develop pitching and then sustain pitching, you know, success pitching wise, I mean, how can you not think that this is going to be, you know, one of the best pitching staffs in the game for the next half decade. Like it's just I have all the confidence in the world. As much as you can have confidence in a pitching staff to sustain success, I have that and then some with with this unit because of just what this organization has been able to do

over the last few years and developing talent there. And then, you know, how it's all coming together now. And look, you know, for as much crap as we've given the organization and we've given John Stanton and company, for, you know, not spending on, you know, in opportune moments. And for not spending on elite talent. I mean, they're putting their money where their mouth is right now. You have to give credit where credit is due right now. They've, you know, they've signed Julio Rodriguez.

They gave out a big contract to Robbie Ray. They've, you know, signed Luis Castillo to a significant contract. Now this team is investing the dollars. Of course, want to see them invests more, you know, if the opportunity arises in the offseason, you know, to get another high-end talent in here. but this is a great step, and it, you know, and it makes me feel more confident in this organization's ability to actually spend in the off season and to actually be able to land, you know, more impact talent to really finish this thing off. You know, how do you feel about that? Are your feelings the same as far as ownership goes and their willingness to spend here as of late? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we haven't really, we haven't really seen them spend this much money on, on young talent. Like, we've seen them kind of spend.

spend, you know, big dollars on Nelson Cruz. I love Nelson Cruz, Robbie and Kyle Seeger and that bunch, but we haven't really seen a young and exciting core like this, really ever. And the fact that they're, like, seizing the opportunity and supplementing it with backing it up with dollars is really encouraging to see. And I mean, if you're this far in, at this point if you're John Stanton, I don't see them, I don't see them stopping. I mean, they have a prime opportunity this off season to capitalize on, you know, a lot of excitement that's been brewing and hopefully snapping this playoff drought. So I'm really excited for the front office and what they're doing right now.

Yep. And like you mentioned earlier, you know, we're going to see the new $108 million man tomorrow on the bump of the Mariners. I got to ask you, before we hop off of here, are you panicked at all? Is panic starting to seep in a little bit after you're watching, you know, the Orioles beat the Astros the last couple days, Mariners are still playing the way that they're playing off

and still struggling the way that is struggling? Or you're still pretty confident with 12 games to go on a four-game lead? I'm still pretty confident. I mean, a lot, a lot would have to go horribly wrong, which I guess you can never put that past the Seattle Mariners. But I think today is a good opportunity. I tweeted about this earlier, but I think today is a good opportunity for,

I mean, for Thai France and Mitch Hanager to get back on track. I think against Bubich earlier this year, France had a, that might have been his five-pick game, if I'm not mistaken. So I think those guys need to get back on track, those two specifically,

because otherwise with Julio and Gino L, it is going to continue to be a struggle because, I mean, we're just, at this point, we're not going to see it from Jesse Winker this year. I mean, Adam Frazier hasn't shown it either. So, like, it's going to have to come from the guys who we have seen it from this year. And I think it's going to come from those two. And I think today is going to be a really nice opportunity for Mitch Hanager and Thai France to get back on track. I think we haven't seen a Mitch Baum in a while.

I think that might be coming tonight. That would be nice. That'd be nice. And hey, you know, look, if the Orioles lose tonight to the Astros, very much possible. The Astros still haven't even scored in that series. That isn't going to last for that entire series. And, you know, if the Mariners win, then you're back to a five-game lead when you account for the tiebreaker. And you're back where you were yesterday.

So while the panic, you know, can seep in a little bit after a night like last night. At the end of the day, you can get right back to where you were with. less games to play or fewer games to play and you're against bad teams still also the Orioles on top of playing the Astros they still have to play the Yankees they still have to play the Blue Jays like have a brutal brutal road ahead so you know well last night was depressing as a mariner's fan it's not like it can quickly this can quickly look a lot better for the mariners in a matter of hours honestly from the time that you're watching or listening to this so Don't panic just yet.

Everything is fine. It's still a large, large, historic mountain that the Orioles have to climb here. And again, you know, never put it past the Mariners, but I'm just going to, you know, to take a quote from your favorite quarterback, Aaron Rogers. Relax. Yes. Relax. It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay. It's okay. All right. So that's going to do it for a show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Mariner's podcast. podcast for Ben Rennery. I'm Tiding Gonzalez. Be sure to give us follow on Twitter at LO underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez, the C-A-N-E, G-N-Z-L-Z, and you can follow Ben at Ben-Rinary 10. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode,

and thank you again for making us your first listen. Now make your second listen, the Lockdown MLB podcast. MLB expert Paul Francis Sullivan brings humor, passion, and unique perspective on every team and the biggest stories around the league. Follow the number one daily league-wide podcast, on MLB on the Odyssey app, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcast just like us. And with that, have yourself a beautiful baseball day. And unless something else happens, we'll see you on Monday. Peace.