Twins Birthdays--June 20

Also posted at wgom.org

Juan Castro (1972)

Infielder Juan Gabriel Castro played for the Twins in 2005 and the first part of 2006. Born and raised in Los Mochis, Mexico, Castro signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1991. He had decent batting averages in the minors, but did not walk very much nor did he show much power. He gained a reputation as a fine fielder, however, and made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1995. He spent the next two years going back and forth between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, putting up good numbers in the minors but bad numbers in the majors, where he was used as a utility player. He got his first full season in the majors in 1998, again as a utility player, and hit only .195 with an OPS of .499. He was back in AAA for almost all of 1999 and then was traded to Cincinnati. He started 2000 in AAA but was back in the majors in late April and remained with the Reds through 2004, again as a utility infielder. He continued to not hit very well– his best year was 2003, when he hit .253 with nine homers for an OPS of .678. Castro became a free agent after the 2004 campaign and signed with Minnesota. As a Twin, he basically was what he was–a weak hitter with a reputation as a good fielder. He hit .248/.271/.357 in 428 at-bats. He stayed with Minnesota until mid-June of 2006, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Brandon Roberts. He had a good rest-of-2006 for the Reds, but did little in 2007 and was released in early May of 2008. He signed with the Rockies, played in AAA there for two and a half months, then was traded to Baltimore. He was with the Dodgers in 2009, moved on to Philadelphia for 2010, was released in mid-July, and signed with the Dodgers again. He was still with the Dodgers in 2011, but spent most of the season in the minors and retired on July 10. Upon his retirement, Juan Castro was named a special assistant for player personnel for the Dodgers, a position he continued to hold at last report. He was also a coach for Mexico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.