:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68565366/1229319236.0.jpg)
Dodgers scout Jairo Castillo died on Dec. 6 from complications due to COVID-19. Jorge Castillo at the Los Angeles Times on Monday profiled the 31-year-old crosschecker of Latin America, talking to several who worked with Castillo, including Dodgers vice president of international scouting Ismael Cruz.
From Jorge Castillo:
After three years with Toronto, Castillo was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers to work as an international scout covering several countries including Panama, Colombia and Mexico. Cruz joined the Dodgers in 2015 and kept tabs on Castillo. In 2018, he hired him as one of the Dodgers’ three international cross-checkers — the final scouting filter before Cruz.
“He always saw the top guys,” Cruz said. “When I was going to sign an expensive player, he had to see him, too, and give his opinion. He was responsible, I think, for the majority of our signings in his two years.”
Jairo Castillo was climbing the ranks in the scouting world. He was from the Dominican Republic but became a champion for Mexican ballplayers. He was always smiling.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) December 21, 2020
Earlier this month, he died from complications from COVID-19. He was 31. https://t.co/Wp81skeGhd
Links
- The Dodgers, over a full season, would have had a competitive balance tax payroll of $204.65 million for 2020, per Maury Brown at Forbes. MLB waived any CBT penalties for 2020, but the Dodgers would have been under the $208 million threshold anyway (the threshold is $210 million for 2021). In pro-rated payroll for 2020, the Dodgers had the highest in MLB at $98.6 million, per Forbes as well as Ronald Blum at the Associated Press. compared to fifth in CBT payroll. I haven’t seen the full breakdown, but I would imagine the difference has a lot to do with signing bonuses paid to Clayton Kershaw ($7.67 million), Max Muncy ($4.5 million), and Ross Stripling ($1.5 million) that were not pro-rated like salaries were.
- Dave Roberts was a guest on the Big Time Baseball podcast with Tony Gwynn Jr., talking about several things, including rebounding from the stunning Game 4 loss in the World Series.
- Dodgers pitcher Josiah Gray, rated the club’s top prospect by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and MLB.com, was profiled by John Parker at MLB.com on Monday, noting that Gray could potentially make his major league debut in 2021.
- Kiké Hernández was listed, along with Jurickson Profar, by Jeff Passan at ESPN as among the most popular free agents. From Passan: “Hernandez, 29, has the infield-outfield thing, plenty of playoff experience and a good reputation around the game for his clubhouse presence. Neither will break the bank. Both should do well.”
- Jeff Kent, in his eighth year on the Hall of Fame ballot, gets the full breakdown from Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs.