Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo to be represented by Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports

Roc Nation Sports has made yet another splash by agreeing to represent Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo.

Castillo, 26, is free to sign with a major league team. He has acquired permanent Haitian residency papers, an unblocking license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. Castillo has been training in the northern region of the Dominican Republic, though he had to take time off recently due to a finger injury.

Teams are preparing for Castillo to have a showcase soon, either in the United States or the Dominican Republic, though the dates and locations of the showcase are still unknown. Other clients of Roc Nation Sports, a joint venture with CAA, include Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano and Yankees lefthander C.C. Sabathia.

Scouts don’t expect Castillo to be an immediate impact player along the lines of Yoenis Cespedes or Jose Abreu, but several scouts who have seen Castillo before he left and since he has been in the Dominican Republic have been impressed, though there’s a split on whether he profiles as an everyday player or a fourth outfielder.

At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Castillo has good strength for his relatively short stature and is an athletic player whose best tool is his plus-plus speed. He was one of the better base stealers in Cuba, going 22-for-29 in steals in 2011-12 to rank third in the league in stolen bases, one year after leading the league with 29 bags in 35 attempts.

Castillo can sting the ball from the right side of the plate, projecting as a line-drive bat who hits a lot of doubles and triples rather than home runs. He’s an aggressive hitter with good bat speed, though his swing can get long at times and he will expand his strike zone.

Castillo mostly played center field and right field in Cuba. He does have a small amount of history in the infield, but he has been working out for teams as a center fielder and is expected to sign as an outfielder.

In his final season in Cuba playing for Ciego De Avila in 2012-13, Castillo hit just .250/.352/.342 in 43 games. It was an uncharacteristically poor season for Castillo, who in 2011-12 hit .332/.395/.545 in 420 plate appearances with 16 home runs, 32 walks, 42 strikeouts and a league-leading 28 doubles.

Castillo’s international tournament exposure had been limited since November 2012, when he travelled to Taiwan and Japan for an exhibition series with the team Cuba would end up sending to the World Baseball Classic last year in March. Castillo was left off the WBC roster, however, and before Castillo left Cuba, he had been suspended for trying to defect from Cuba.

His best showing at an international tournament came in October 2011 at the World Cup in Panama. Castillo made the all-tournament team by leading the World Cup in batting average and slugging with a .512/.524/.854 slash line in 10 games, going 21-for-41 with two home runs, two triples and four doubles.

While it is still far too early to predict where Castillo will sign, the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers are among the clubs that have reportedly scouted him recently.

I don't think Castillo has the star power of other Roc Nation clients but this is just a start for the agency getting into 'international waters'.  

Dodgers' Matt Kemp doesn't want to be the fourth outfielder

Do not tell Matt Kemp that he is the fourth outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He does not want to be relegated to that status.

Kemp is recovering from offseason ankle surgery and manager Don Mattingly is not counting on Kemp being ready when the Dodgers travel to Australia for their season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 22. According to reports, Kemp has not started running on the ankle.

That leaves the Dodgers with three healthy outfielders -- Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig -- who are more than capable and could push Kemp into a bench role this season even after he is healed and ready to play.

With a contract that runs through the 2019 season, Kemp could become trade fodder depending on how the season shapes up.

"I don't know where you get this fourth outfielder talk from, man," Kemp said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "You all love talking about four outfielders, man. That's like the question of the day every day. I think all four of us outfielders feel the same way. None of us are fourth outfielders. Everybody wants to play every day. I won't accept that role. I can't accept that role."

Kemp has struggled to stay healthy the past two seasons, missing 145 games with injuries to his hamstring, knee, shoulder and ankle.

After a National League MVP season in 2011, the 29-year-old Kemp slumped at the plate, batting .270 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in 71 games last year. Those numbers are a sharp contrast to the MVP year when Kemp hit 39 homers with 126 RBIs and 40 stolen bases and batted .324 in 161 games.

The Dodgers began team workouts on Friday and Kemp is able to hit without being ready to run on the ankle. He said his left shoulder, which bothered him last year after major surgery, feels better after a cleanup surgical procedure in the fall.

If Kemp can't show that he has fully recovered he'll find himself on the outside looking in and possibly on a new team.

My guess is that either Crawford or Kemp finds himself playing elsewhere this season.

Tigers trying to work out a deal with Brian Wilson

The Detroit Tigers came into the offseason with the goal of acquiring a closer. After finally settling on Joaquin Benoit, the Tigers knew they had to revamp the bullpen.

After being mentioned as a possible suitor for Joe Nathan, the Tigers reportedly are in negotiations with free agent closer Brian Wilson.

 Wilson met Sunday with Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and with Wilson’s agent, Dan Lozano, in Los Angeles.

Wilson, 31, is coming off a partial 2013 season in which he posted an ERA of 0.66 in 13 2/3 innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wilson didn't make his season debut until Aug. 22 because he was working his way back from Tommy John surgery performed in April of 2012.

Wilson was a three time All Star with the San Francisco Giants, where he had his greatest success. If the Tigers can  sign Wilson it would address the glaring hole in the bullpen they've been trying to ever since Jose Valverde was forced to relinquish the closer's role.

Along with the Tigers, Wilson has also reportedly drawn interest from the Rockies, Rangers, Angels, Mariners and the Indians. He's reportedly looking for a multi-year deal.

Dodgers' Matt Kemp has rehab assignment extended

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp is having a tough go at it in his current rehabilitation assignment. He's 0 for 11 at Class A Rancho Cucamonga in his first three games. Kemp has only hit one ball out of hte infield.

Manager Don Mattingly said that Kemp will not be returning to the Dodgers on Monday.

"He doesn't feel good yet at the plate," Manager Don Mattingly said Sunday. "He's not pushing us to say, 'I want to be there tomorrow.'"

The Dodgers have been rolling and it would help to have a healthy and productive Kemp in the lineup to increase their chances of winning the World Series. They have a good chance right now, but if Kemp is there playing like vintage Kemp it'll help the team dramatically.



 

More violence at Dodger Stadium

A little more than a year after San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was left with brain damage after being beaten, violence erupted once again at Dodger Stadium.

A minor fender bender turned into a man being beaten by four men. A man in his 20s was involved in an accident with another driver and three other men pinned him down and beat him in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

The four men have been arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon.


The other driver kicked and hit the victim in the head and face while he was on the ground, police Sgt. David Armas said.


"It was just a minor fender bender that just got totally out of hand," he said.


The victims injuries were not life threatening and was treated for scrapes and cuts. Luckily he escaped the incident relatively unharmed .

Dodgers' Ethier buying uniforms for Phoenix high school team

Positive sports stories hardly ever make news. No one ever reports the good that professional athletes do on their own time. Except for the televised charity work.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, Andre Ethier, has done a big favor for a Phoenix area high school. Ethier's buying new uniforms for the baseball team at Camelback High School. Ethier attended St. Mary’s High in Phoenix.


“I’ve been pretty excited and choked up about this,” Camelback Coach Todd Goertzen said.


Camelback reached the state finals in 1985, but the baseball program declined as the surrounding neighborhood changed. Most of the players are sons of Mexican immigrants who didn’t play baseball before high school because of the high cost of equipment. Many players come from single-parent households. Until recently, the team had one bat for the entire team.


The Spartans have won one game in each of the last two seasons; they are winless this season and lost one of their games by a 38-0 margin.


I can imagine being excited for new uniforms, especially being supplied by a major league player. A local product in this case making for a classic hometown hero story.

New Balance, which recently signed Ethier to an endorsement deal, will provide the team with shoes.

Hopefully Ethier's contributions will spark a new interest in the baseball program at Camelback.

Mattingly stakes his claim for Los Angeles

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly spent his playing career with the New York Yankees, so he should be well versed in "crosstown" battles. Not battles on the field, but for fans and a certain market share. The Yankees and New York Mets share the Gotham headlines, but the Yanks are the far more dominant team. It's hard for a Yankees fan to convert to a Mets fan.

The Los Angeles Angels have been around for awhile. They were known as the California Angels and Anaheim Angels, before going headfirst into the Los Angeles market. They share the area with the Dodgers and have made the biggest splashes. Namely in free agency. To Mattingly it doesn't matter. Los Angeles will always belong to the Dodgers in his mind.

"It's kind of like Mets-Yankees," Mattingly said just before the Dodgers' first full-squad workout of spring training. "The Yankees are the team. [The Mets] are going to have their years when they play well, but the Yankees are still the team. I don't want to badmouth the Angels at all. Mr. [Angels owner Arte] Moreno has done a great job down there in Anaheim, and [Angels manager] Mike [Scioscia] does a great job. But we're the Dodgers, and that isn't going to change."

"We're still going to need to play good baseball," Mattingly said. "But at the end of the day, if we do things right, worry about ourselves and take care of business, we don't need to worry about what another team is doing. I don't mean this as a negative, because [the Angels] have done a tremendous job down there.

"But at the end of the day, the Dodgers are still the Dodgers."

With the signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson in the off season coupled with the Dodgers looking for a new owner, the Angels are gaining ground quickly. The Dodgers do have the name recognition and historical significance, but their product on the field has been lacking recently. They have to produce on the field to reclaim the market they held by themselves for so long.  

Excessive Fandom

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the defending world champion San Francisco Giants in their season opener yesterday. That's all good and dandy. It just wasn't enough for a few Dodgers fans.

Dodger fans and Los Angeles fans in general have a rap about being too laid back. If I'm wrong about this let me no, since I'm not a native in your city. A pair of Dodgers fans laid a critical beatdown on a fan wearing Giants gear in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

"The man suffered a serious head injury during the assault after the game,'' said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg. (LA Times ).

Rosenberg said the victim was one of three Giants fans attacked in the parking lot around the end of the game by two unidentified men wearing Dodgers clothing.

Police are trying to get any witnesses to come forward since there was a pretty large group and the attack happened when everyone was coming out. Hopefully someone will come forward and identify the people that did this crime.

It's fine to talk trash to one another while supporting your team, but keep it non violent. Let's hope the perpetrators of this sad and cowardly act are brought to justice. There's no place for this junk in being a fan of professional sports -- which are supposed to be fun.




  

Torre Would Be A Fool To Take The Mets Job

After going back to New York for the Steinbrenner ceremony, soon to be former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Joe Torre hinted about the New York Mets job.You know the rumors started swirling.  He was linked to the job by various news reports. Then he came on WFAN and talked his previous stint as Mets manager back in the late 70s. Ahhh, longing to go back to the city where you had your greatest success. There is one problem. The Mets are currently managed by Jerry Manuel. Although, I don't think he'll last beyond this season.

If I'm Torre, I just go on and retire. You have your rings and you'll be remembered more for your time as Yankees manager than anywhere else you've been. Who actually remembers that you managed the Mets, Cardinals, or Braves. Ok, i do. But not the casual baseball fan. He might seem like a good fit for the Mets job, but I wouldn't touch it. Your leaving a dysfunctional Dodgers organization for the Mets,who sign high riced players that underacheive once they hit Queens. The Mets haven't been the same since they blew the late season lead to the Phillies. 

My advice,ride out into the sunset Joe and leave well enough alone.