The Rangers have signed infielder Diego Castillo to a minor league contract, per an announcement from his now-former club in the Mexican League, los Algodoneros del Unión Laguna. Presumably, the MAS+ Agency client will head to Triple-A Round Rock, although the Rangers have not yet formally announced the deal.
Castillo, 28, has played briefly in parts of three major league seasons. He logged a career-high 283 plate appearances with the 2022 Pirates before taking one plate appearance with the 2023 D-backs and eight with the 2024 Twins. He’s a career .208/.257/.383 hitter with 11 homers in the big leagues.
Though he hasn’t had much big league experience, Castillo has been an on-base machine in the upper minors. He’s played in parts of five Triple-A seasons and sports a .279/.384/.401 batting line there. Castillo has more than 1200 innings at each of second base, third base and shortstop. He’s also logged 91 innings at first base, 536 innings in left field and 224 innings in right field, giving him plenty of defensive versatility.
Castillo had something of a down year in Triple-A last season, hitting .262/.342/.395 in 263 plate appearances between the top affiliates for the Mets and Royals. He followed that with an unproductive 19-game stint in the Venezuelan Winter League and didn’t catch on with an affiliated club.
A sensational stint in Mexico quickly drew some big league attention, however; he’s totaled 38 plate appearances and is slashing .559/.605/.853 with a pair of homers, four doubles and more walks (four) than strikeouts (two). The Mexican League is notoriously hitter-friendly, but Castillo’s production is virtually unmatched. Former big league outfielder Andrew Stevenson (.455/.581/1.000) is the only hitter (min. 40 plate appearances) with a better OPS there so far in 2026.
