He Was MLB's Next Superstar, Then He Disappeared From Baseball... 

He lived a dream, most American baseball kids would wish for. Played in the Show, and locked up millions. He’s good!👍

One of my favorite players because he actually acknowledged us when we were cheering him on

He did full fill his dreams. He did play in the MLB. And he did become rich.

Life of a scout..bashed when they get it wrong..never praised when they get it right

Who remembers Willie Mo Pena

That was my first video of yours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done.

Ben Cherington and the Red Sox I believe were trying to quickly compensate in signing a top talent out of Cuba after narrowly losing out to the White Sox who had acquired rookie sensation Jose Abreu in October, 2013 ... You have to give Rusney Castillo an enormous amount of credit in continuing to work hard and remain motivated at the AAA level by being the first in the batting cage and the first on the field ... He could have very easily have become so frustrated and depressed to the point of no longer caring about his performance anymore ... It's quite unfortunate that things did not break Castillo's way in being able to remain at the MLB level, but as this excellent video presented, his extremely high guaranteed salary ultimately worked against him from being able to move on to another MLB team ... However with $72 million in his pocket, he should be financially set for life ...

You hit it on the nose at the end. Rusney Castillo is that he was a EXCELLENT fielder. He should have gotten another chance after hitting .314 in 2018 in AAA even if he wasn't hitting for power. 1 WAR is worth just under 10 million. He was a 1 WAR player just on his defense. He could have been a good 4th outfielder if he could hit .265 in the bigs and play good defense.

Ben Cherington was such a horrible GM. Rusney, Hanley, Sandoval 😂.

I remember playing with this guy in the minors when I was in the Red Sox organization. Crazy to see he never panned out because he had crazy pop and bat speed.

I’m from Boston - we used to say he’s AAAA… too good for AAA but not good enough for MLB. Purgatory indeed.

As a Red Sox fan, I feel bad for Castillo. Unlike Pablo Sandoval, Castillo actually tried but got screwed by his high contact.

Honestly, he was easily good enough to be a 4th OF or a good bench bat AT WORST. He consistently hit pretty well in the minors. The only reason they wouldn’t call him up was he would’ve been making 10+ million to be a part time player and that would affect the luxury tax on ownership. Just another example of John Henry and co being cheap scum who treat the team like nothing more than another item on a business ledger. At the very least they could’ve released him, but they were afraid of him succeeding elsewhere and them looking even more incompetent. Like others mentioned, they lost out on Jose Abreu, then threw WAY too much money at the next Cuban player that hit the open market. So instead of cutting their losses and giving the kid a chance to play elsewhere, they let him rot his prime away in the minors and hoped fans would forget about the colossal blunder. He 100% was good enough to make 1 of 30 mlb rosters… man i cant stand Red Sox ownership.

At least he became a legend in Pawtucket. That’s something at least

Im somewhat of a regular at the Long Island Ducks games. He did not look like he wanted to be there. Never seemed to make an effort running the bases or making plays in the field. I was surprised he was released by the Ducks because he was not hitting bad.

Finally, someone who makes this style of video is a fan of my team! Go Jays ❤ Great videos!

Thanks for this one. I always thought he should have been given another shot by the Sox but you correctly point out that his contract situation made it impossible. They should have at least waived him then another team could have given him a look without having to take on that ridiculous contract. Oh well, millions will go a long way in Cuba.

I’m happy to read primary sources for any studies in it.

From Boston myself- the guy tried, he was just a 4th outfielder. The Soxs just through way too much money at him way too early and it ended up hurting him and them. This was also in the hay day of losing out to Abreu and wanting to sign anyone internationally who could be a gem. Bad for the Red Soxs, but good for him- I just hope he invests that money well.

I thought this guy was our savior when I was nine

Rusney didn't disappear, he's been in Japan, Puerto Rico (2 championships with Caguas, and the Serie del Caribe), Dominican Rep. (playoffs only with the Aguilas), also Mexico with MExicali and now he is there with a new team in Queretaro. Manager left him on the bench after his 5-RBI game vs. Chicago, he never liked him, neither did Dombrowski, who offered him $60+ million while with the Tigers, the Giants were around $68 million, the Cubs were very excited but couldn't offer as much, same with the Phillies (I attended his private showcase for them in Clearwater), the Yankees kinda treated him bad during his showcase, that's why he had them in his no-trade clause

He made it to the show and made show money.

Man Rusney was such a disappointment for my Red Sox. Back in those days, they were winning to spend. The last few offseasons since winning the 2018 world series have been utter disappointments

My god this guys mechanics at the plate were so inconsistent throughout this whole video I was trying to decipher what about it annoyed me. Was his bat too end heavy? Were his hands bad? I finally cracked it at 7:35 at 0.25 speed. He clearly has great bat speed but his flaw was his timing and being in sync. He doesn’t pick up his foot for his step until the pitcher starts going downhill but then plants his foot behind where initially started. He does this nearly every damn time leaving himself unbalanced by the time the pitch is half way there. Castillo insane hand speed usually lets him catch up against the slower AAA pitching. But against the Major level he is late and usually swinging over the top

I’m from Boston I could never forget this bust

Everyone needs to know Rusney's story!!

Nobody ever mentions Albert Pujols 10/$100M contract he got as a rookie, which regardless of what any of these guys do is still the best one of these ever.

I love how they judged this guy on a handful of games that he hit 254.but betts struggled surung 59 games hitting a little over 200.the guy needed more time against mlb pitching and he wasnt groomed in minors

I talk about Rusney all the time. Sad what that they just held him down

Crazy how a .253 batting average got him sent down in todays game that would be above league average

Speed guys are taught by major league teams to hit the ball on the ground especially if they don't have much power. The problem is baseball has forgotten about the best play for speedy guys....the bunt. If you're successful at bunting, the corner infielders will have to move up closer to the plate giving you a better chance to get those ground balls to the outfield. Everything is now, sit back and wait for the home run with every single team. It's ALWAYS been the guys who hit home runs get paid more. Doesn't matter that most of them are solo homers and don't always win games. You win games by getting guys on base THEN hitting homers that drive in more than that 1 run give you a batter chance to win.

Really good AAA player. Made a lot of money. Good for him.

Thought this was willy mo pena at first 😂 stoked to watch. Love the channel. Maybe we could get a cleveland Indian in a video one day. Albert bells 1995 season has never been duplicated and it was in a shortened season. 🍻

Saw rusney in AA game 7 of championship when he was with seadogs. He went 2-4 couple singles but his chance in clutch to win it he grounded up middle to second. Good game but seadogs narrowly lost if hed been big i. That moment theyd have won.

He returned to Cuba in 2023 and helped the Matanzas Cocodrilos to the Elite League title….More interestingly he left Cuba before Ciego de Avila became a mini dynasty and would have occupied an OF along with Luis Robert & Adolis Garcia.

I still have his prospect auto WORTHLESS!!!

Imagine coming from a country where you are basically a prisoner and then you’re handed 72 mil. Yeah i would suck too

Btw Yasmany Tómas is pronounced like toe-moss not thomas

Smoking weed shouldn’t be tested in MLB. A buddy of mine was friends with a guy that played for the Rockies but lived in NC. He said the MLB really doesn’t care if you blaze, who knows what’s true

The problem was Castillo is not a 72 million player,for sometimes they are a myth,that all cuban player are MLB material.

Still got the bag 💰

@15:30 Cuba is in North America.

You'll have to do manoah

He played in MLB and became rich. He reached his two goals.

Nice video

Saw him in the dominican winter league after the boston stint around 2018 did nothing special but a good fielder

Seems like they never really gave him enough time to prove himself in the majors

Now do Carter Kieboom

Smoking weed is so overblown as being bad. The only reason it was ever made illegal in the first place is because you can use hemp to burn and heat your home and back in the day the governmennt couldn't tax it and make money off it so they made it illegal. Weed can have a lot of good effects. Theres a reason why people have medical marijuana. Being a 60% disabled veteran weed can really help my arthritis. Educate yourself.

I have a gorgeous rookie autograph from him and it’s prob my favorite card

shit hed be a hell of cleanup hitter for the tigers with those numbers right now

Should be a lesson to all. Even though you want that money, make sure your agent doesn’t get you in a contract that limits your or the teams options.

I love BC but he was the only guy in the world that believed Rusney Castillo was worth the 72.5 million.

That's good because ground balls can drive runs home

I find this confusing...he was still an average MLB hitter? Why did he not get called up somewhere else? A .250 hitter is still alright, not amazing but good enough for some bad clubs to be an everyday player.

Always wished the pirates took a flier on him when his sox contract ran out. Pirates have had nothing to lose and it would of giving him a shot in a small market mentality owner that he could succeed even if he had set backs at the plate. I think his biggest problem in hitting is he’s always over the top of the ball which of course equals ground out or topping the dribbler. I would love for him to get another shot..wake up pirates you can get him cheap and multiple Cuban players on the team this year would be good for his mental state which of course can’t hurt his performance on the field.

10:55.... Dodgers did with David Price

I always liked him but it wasnt a question the Red Sox had their outfield for the future which they fumbled but its hard beating out Benny Jackie and Mookie

He be alright

pride of pawtucket

Wait a minute hold on there sparky. Cuban PLAYERS ARE FORBIDDEN FROM LEAVING THE ISLAND. Who told you it's due to the embargo?!

He got the contract cespedes should’ve got as an A

I remember him they gave him a ton of money to basically play in the minors what a waste

This was a cool video but you’re down playing a lot of his stats you were right on a lot of points but you made it seem like he hit .150 and was a terrible player he didn’t hit for power at all the first few years but the last 3 years he balled out and in 23 even tho it was Indy ball he batted .349 lmao that’s “nothing special” he was a big leaguer even dudes who actually played with him in the minors were saying it. There’s dudes in the spring breakout series who had FAR worse numbers than him and getting praised. Dude had to compete with a stacked outfield and just didn’t play well long enough

It's not "The MLB". It's not THE Major League Baseball. Just a pet peeve of mine lol. Informative video though.

Lowkey I pitched in my adults men’s league while hitting my weed pen before and I was gassing 89 91 mph legit made me feel like ohtani playing ball also hit a double and a ground ball single I’m not saying do it but it can make baseball kinda fun (I’m 25) if you am old head I don’t recommend doing this 😂😂

I remember all the accolades that the press reported on this guy. I subsequently watched him closely and after a dozen games it was obvious that he was not talented enough to play in the MLB. Whoever scouted him should be fired. Same with Sandoval. The scouts must have been blind or on drugs. The eye test doesn’t lie. He was not fit. He was fat. I don’t care what he did in SF I the World Series. Sandoval was terrible.

That's really stupid giving him that much money, considering the majority of players get injured or just out of the league in a year or two.

wonder why op clicked on the Toronto blue jays 2:45

He got screwed due to his contract. I'm surprised the White Sox never signed him.

I played in 4 major international tournaments - 3 of those the Cuban national team was there & in the other tournament the Cuban club team Ciego de Avila was there. It was no secret many of the Cuban players were taking Steroids. Some even talking about it openly. This guys was always mentioned as one who was juicing. Just look at the difference in bat speed from his Cuban league video.

God forbid they sign Mookie Betts, one of the most naturally gifted baseball players in the history of the game. Nahh, Rusney Castillo

Cuban players have a rep for being busts.

Haha, remember when every pro athlete had that goofy little faux-hawk.

Never heard of the guy

Addison Russell too got a domestic was wrong and gonzo

I work with horses for a living - if the shedrow foreman is from mexico or quatimalla they will not hire people from cuba - i asked them what that was all about -im told they are viewed as lazy - because of socialism they dont work - im told they don't know how to work - this blew my mind - ive asked several people around the circuit and all of the Latinos affirmed this - i cant imagine what would be said if a white boy said this

Yoan Moncado, Part 1. Boston got smart with him and dumped him off to the White Sox real quick.

Your audio is very low

Check out a guy named Nick Francis…

He had his chances...lots of them.

I see my video of Castillo in Cuba at 3:33

I think he may also been older than his birth certificate indicated.

Oh yeah, he was pretty underwhelming with the Sox.

International players are overpaid and unknown. I didn’t even remember this dude really and while I remember P Dicekaue Matzuara a lot of us Red Sox fans would rather forget. Again much easier to build up on success. I get the need to occasionally swing on a potential Grand Slam but when it falls just feet short it’s a big disappointment. Also Cherrington was a horrible GM and John Farrell wasn’t as great as advertised. I know we won a few world series but every few years we hit bad patches and unfortunately he hit one for timing.

My best shape and health started after i started THC. Demonizing weed is sooooo 80s

Should’ve just brought him up to play against the Yankees only…

He made it to the show and made show money..not exactly a cautionary tale.

cuba is in north america

You should make videos on positive things, not negative things

Great vid, but it's not "the MLB" it's just MLB.

He’s laughing all the way to the bank!

Gotta be more positive. I absolutely feel they should’ve given him a bigger window to succeed; they didn’t show enough support in him either.

They want all young kids to come out and be superstar from day 1 when they should take it slow get them use to the speed the traveling and eating training the right way and then if they flop send them down farm team to get them back in form but no all sports 1 yr done like pro NFL QB bears they trade him away well it wasn't him but lack of talent around him and I am a packer fan he reminds me of eagle QB so run a similar talent so they draft number 1 QB usc who didn't carry his team to a title I think their in for let down

So, does he have to give all of his money to the Cuban government now that he went back there?

Hopefully, he didn’t squander those millions.

We call him the millionaire of the minors

Rusney and Allan Craig must of been pissing off the same people during this period.

Didn't the Red Sox pay out millions just to talk to him?

Over marijuana ? Such a joke