Willi Castro, a potential trade candidate, hopes to be Twin for life
LOS ANGELES Byron Buxton made news last week during the All-Star Contest media day when petitioned about the possibility of being traded he replied that he couldn t be dealt I got a no business clause the Twins star mentioned I m a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life so that s the best feeling in the world knowing I get to walk into a clubhouse and it s going to say Twins for the rest of my life Utilityman Willi Castro sung a similar tune this week though unlike Buxton it s not as clear that he will get his wish With the exchange deadline approaching next week and Castro an impending free agent he could be a valuable competitor for other teams if the Twins opt to sell at the deadline I want to be a Twin for sure Castro revealed I want to be a Twin for the rest of my life It doesn t seem so surprising that Castro feels loyalty to the Twins After all they helped revitalize his career after he was non-tendered by the Detroit Tigers in The Twins signed him to a minor league deal and gave him an opportunity to play he made the roster in out of spring training as a non-roster invite and carved out a role for himself eventually becoming an all-star last season He has been among the Twins majority valuable players again this year thanks in large part to his ability to move around the field bouncing between the infield and outfield as needed But with the business deadline approaching on July and the Twins entering Monday five games behind in the wild card race and games behind the Central Division-leading Detroit Tigers Castro could help a contending organization in a lot of avenues Despite chatter surrounding his future Castro reported he doesn t really think about it and is doing his best to try to block out that noise If they want to commerce me I guess I ve got to go You don t control that Castro declared I know there are various other teams that are fighting but whatever happens happens I m going to be sad if they commerce me of lesson but I don t really think about that I just go out there and get my job done and that s about it Southern California homecoming A trip to southern California served as a homecoming for a number of Twins including Royce Lewis DaShawn Keirsey Jr and Ty France Lewis and Keirsey playing at Dodger Stadium for the first time both expressed excitement over the prospect Keirsey grew up in San Diego but lives now in Orange County less than miles south of Los Angeles Lewis also grew up in Orange County and both were planning on having a group of family and friends show up this week I ll soak it in Lewis commented I think I ll presumably end up playing better too Just like enjoy it Obviously I want our group to wi But man I m going to enjoy this because this is like a dream come true Briefly After facing Shohei Ohtani on Monday night the Twins get to see another all-star on Tuesday Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start the second challenge of the series for the Dodgers The pitcher has a earned-run average in games this season He will be opposed by Simeon Woods Richardson who has a ERA across his last six starts
