Former Golden Eagles in the Minor Leagues

[mickeyb]

Here's a quick look at how a couple of our former players are doing:

Doug Bernier (Colorado Springs Sky Sox - AAA):

Hitting .333 with 45 AB in 25 games.  Has 3 2B, 5 RBI and an OBP. of .423.  Looks like he might become the next Golden Eagle to hit the big time.

Michael Hollimon (Erie Sea Wolves - AA):

Hitting .246 with two HR and 18 RBI  in 134 at-bats.  Also has 27 runs scored to go along with 33 hits and 4 stolen bases.  OBP is .378.

Dennis Bigley (Auburn Doubledays - A):

Is 3-0 on the year with a 1.71 ERA (22 appearances and 31.2 IP).  Also has eight saves with 31 K's and just 7 BB.  He's only given up 6 ER on the year.

Andy Bouchie (West Virginia Power - Class A):

Hitting .268 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 82 at-bats.  He's got 22 total hits (5 2B) and an OBP of .318.

Grant Plumley (Tampa Yankess - Advanced A):

Only hitting .190 on the year.  Looks like he's had some injury issues and is now on the DL.

Anyone know where Matt VanDerBosch is?  His name isn't appearing on the minor league baseball website.

[ORUTex]

Matt was released by the Red Sox on March 30, 2007.  No word on whether he has signed anywhere else.

http://soxprospects.com/transactions.htm

[redhammer]

Player        AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO

D Castillo  .125  5  8  2 1  0  0  1    2  4  2  4   

David Castillo  AAA Sacramento  Rivercats

Remember that David was one of the first casualties of the increased sterioid

testing in the minor leagues.

[tmh8286]

Redhammer, are those stats from this season?  I was thinking about Castillo over the weekend, and when I saw this thread was doing a little research on him last night myself.  I found that a David Castillo was an assistant coach at Biola (not BAYLOR as I originally posted!) University this season, as a batting coach, but no picture, so it made me wonder if that was OUR David Castillo, and if he'd gotten out of playing. (Biola, for those that don't know, is a Christian College in La Mirada, CA)

There were NUMEROUS articles about David and his being one of the first casualties from the steroid crackdown.  I think he contended that he had positive tests even after he had stopped taking them.  One article I found was particularly interesting in that regard - if I can find it again I'll post it.

[redhammer]

TMH,

The stats are for this season.  But as you see, only 5 games played.  David is either injured or released.  Thats all I could find.  I'd be interested if anyone had any more info.  I thought

David was one of our most promising candidates to make it into the Majors.

[tmh8286]

Here's the article - NYT, no less!  Notice that it's from last year:

In the Hall of Infamy, a Player With Three Strikes Still Dreams

By JACK CURRY

Published: April 2, 2006

New York Times

Link

PHOENIX ? The minor league catcher David Castillo has done something that Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have never done, something, in fact, that only a handful of professional baseball players have ever done. Castillo, a fringe prospect in the Oakland Athletics' organization, has tested positive three times for using a performance-enhancing substance.

David Castillo, a minor league catcher, tested positive for steroids three times in less than a year. He maintains that one injection lingered in his system the entire time.

Before last April, only ardent minor league followers had heard of the 24-year-old Castillo. That is when he was identified as one of 38 minor leaguers who had failed a drug test. Except, for Castillo, it was the third failure.

When he learned that another positive test meant he would be suspended for 60 games without pay, he said he was too distraught to return home to Corpus Christi, Tex. Instead, he stayed here, where the A's have their spring-training complex, and worked as a waiter.

The test results might make it seem like Castillo was a chronic steroid user who kept getting caught. But he says his story is more complicated than the impression left by embarrassing headlines.

"It was one shot," Castillo said. "The thing is, it was the same stuff in me all three times. That's what happened. That's what it was, because it stays in your system. It was the same stuff, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Castillo is back in the game and will probably begin this season at Class AA Midland of the Texas League. He was sitting on a picnic bench outside the clubhouse at Papago Park here after he reluctantly agreed to an interview in mid-March. He declined to answer certain questions and sometimes looked toward the nearby fields while he spoke.

"It was my fault," Castillo said. "I kind of got consumed with wanting to reach this goal. I regret it now. I made that mistake."

At 5 feet 8 inches and 190 pounds, Castillo is small for the demanding position of catcher. He weighed 175 pounds when he tried steroids, saying he was intimidated by the size of the players during his first season as a professional at Class A Vancouver in 2003.

"There's a lot of pressure trying to get stronger," he said. "I put that pressure on myself. I worked out constantly. I tried to eat right. I did everything, and I always ended up at the same weight. I couldn't get over the hump."

Castillo would not say what type of steroid he injected, only that it remained in his system much longer than he expected. He refused to say where he got the drug, but he added that it was difficult to secure and wished he had never done so. He says he now has a strict diet of six planned meals a day to stay at 190 pounds.

"I regret ever taking that shot of that stuff," he said. "It was a really bad move. To get punished for it three times, I was like, oh, man."

Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a New York University medical professor and an expert on steroids, said a potent steroid like Deca Durabolin could stay in the body for nine months to a year. But without knowing the type of steroid in Castillo's case or whether there were diminishing levels of it in the subsequent urine samples, Wadler said, there was no way to be certain how long it might have lingered.

All three positive tests came in a span of about 10 months. The first occurred after the 2004 season started at Class A Kane County in Illinois. The second came in the same season, and the third happened at Kane a year ago.

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor relations and human resources, would not comment on Castillo's situation. While speaking generally about players who said they had been punished more than once for using steroids one time, Manfred said it was "extremely difficult" to evaluate such claims. Manfred said, "Players are responsible for what they put in their body."

Billy Beane, Oakland's general manager, said that in the current climate, he was not surprised that a low-level minor leaguer had tested positive.

"I guess what surprised me is that it happened more than once," he said.

Clearly, Castillo is not alone among the players who have used steroids because they felt the possible benefits outweighed the risks. His rationale was that he needed to be stronger to compete with the players he was trying to beat to the big leagues. A major league rookie earns $327,000 a year. A player in Class AA is fortunate to make $2,000 a month.

Three years ago, Castillo had a timetable for reaching the majors after Oakland drafted him in the seventh round out of Oral Roberts. He would not divulge the plan, but as a two-time Mid-Continent Conference player of the year, he surely figured he would be more than a struggling Class AA catcher by his fourth season.

David Castillo, a minor league catcher,

tested positive for steroids three times in less than a year.

He maintains that one injection lingered in his system

the entire time.

After batting .257 with one homer at Vancouver, he hit .246 with nine homers at Class A Kane County in 2004. But he was also suspended twice, for 15 games and then 30. He missed more than three months in 2005, which is when he worked as a waiter, and hit .204 with one homer. Castillo is a .243 hitter with 11 homers in 639 at-bats in the minors, although the A's are intrigued because his on-base percentage is over .350.

Beane said missing 105 games had derailed Castillo but that the A's had not judged him for the reasons that he missed the time. If Castillo had progressed naturally, Beane said, he would probably be at Class AAA Sacramento.

"We're all in the talent business," Beane said. "His ability to perform will dictate where he goes."

Sunny Golloway, Castillo's coach at Oral Roberts, said the A's would have already released Castillo if they did not value him. Castillo said 2006 would be his reconciliation year.

"When I came back after that last suspension, if I was in love with the game before, I was more in love with it than ever," he said.

Castillo has always loved baseball. He remembers playing T-Ball as a boy and spending the entire season trying to bash a homer, and not one of those Little League specials where the ball rolls through an outfielder's legs. He was trying to lift the ball out of the park. His mother coached the team.

But that arrangement lasted only one season. Steve Castillo was a devoted coach, and his son David was his prodigy. Knowing that David would not dazzle anyone with his size, he motivated him by describing an imaginary player who was working harder.

Steve Castillo was extremely successful at Moody High School, where he coached his son and won 76 percent of his games in 23 years. The father named his son after David, the underdog who conquered Goliath, and helped his son earn a scholarship by reminding him about the hard-working mythical player.

"He was already thinking big even before I got to high school," David Castillo said. "He was thinking big because, if I thought that way, it would eventually take me to the next level."

Rather than feel pressured by his father's motivational tactics, Castillo said, he embraced them.

"There's never been a time where I didn't love it," he said.

In one game at Oral Roberts, Castillo tore his right thumbnail but kept playing. He said he left blood on the ball every time he touched it.

"I remember it was bleeding and he said, 'Let's wrap it up and go,' " Golloway said.

Castillo spent most of his time in the bullpen on a cold, rainy day when the A's minor leaguers played here in March. Late in the game, he was inserted to bat. He made the sign of the cross as he walked to the plate. He took one pitch and was plunked with the second.

"Only at-bat of the day," Castillo said, "and I get drilled."

Castillo says he still thinks he has a major league future because he is a solid defensive catcher and a selective hitter. If the A's need a catcher who calls a smart game, steals strikes and gets on base, Castillo says, that is him.

Eventually, he wants to be remembered for something more than being a minor leaguer who failed three drug tests. He quotes his father often, saying that reaching the major leagues can happen if he works hard. Works harder than anyone and forgets about an ignominious past.

"You can't dwell on it," Castillo said. "If you dwell on it, it'll kill you."

[tmh8286]

Okay, here's a little more on David from the Sac Bee from this month.  Says he was ready to be demoted to the Stockton, CA Single A team.  Believe me, Stockton is a demotion!  Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions - demoted and reinstated within hours.  The minor leagues are a tough way to make a living:

Cats roll with changes

Despite injuries and personnel moves, they stay on top.

By Tim Casey - Bee Staff Writer

Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, May 8, 2007

David Castillo was all set to drive to Stockton, joining the A's Class-A affiliate for its game tonight against the San Jose Giants. His River Cats' tenure had ended.

Or so he thought. Early Monday night, a few hours after getting demoted, Castillo rejoined the River Cats and suited up for their 6-0 victory over the Tucson Sidewinders at Raley Field.

Such is the state of Sacramento's roster, which fluctuates daily because of injuries and trades.

Castillo was in uniform because first baseman/designated hitter Jason Stokes went on the disabled list with a back injury shortly before the first pitch. Stokes and utilityman Antonio Perez (sprained right knee) became the sixth and seventh players on the DL on Monday.

(Note: in spite of the fact that Castillo is discussed in relation to the 5/7/07 game against Tucson, review of the box score from that game reveals he DID NOT play)

[tmh8286]

Last post on the subject - David Castillo remains on the Sacramento River Cats roster in spite of the near demotion earlier this month.  He's not listed on the Stockton Ports roster.  A quick check of box scores since 5/7 shows that David has only gotten into one game since that date - he pinch hit in the 10-2 win over Omaha on 5/9, striking out looking in his only at bat.  That was his only appearance.