Santiago Casilla

Casilla arrived at spring training late after having visa issues, but impressed enough to secure the right-handed part of a closer timeshare with Sean Doolittle. The veteran amassed 16 saves and two holds before handing the reins to Blake Treinen soon after the All-Star break. The change was warranted as Casilla rung up a 4.42 ERA and 1.42 WHIP through the end of July. He pitched better the final two months, recording a 3.98 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with two more holds. Casilla's strikeout rate dropped despite a higher swinging-strike rate, in part because the Coliseum's massive foul territory suppresses punchouts. Casilla has another season left on his contract with Oakland. Even though the club isn't afraid to ride the hot hand, Casilla is likely ticketed for seventh-inning duties. With a dropping strikeout rate, and a light workload for a reliever -- he's had only one season with more than 60 innings -- Casilla's fantasy potential is extremely limited, even in AL-only leagues.

Casilla has always been considered a volatile closer due to his strikeout and walk totals fluctuating on a year-to-year basis. Despite his inconsistent ratios and erratic pitching style, the end results had always been fantasy-friendly with a collective ERA under 3.00 and 84 total saves over the past four seasons. Last year was finally the season it all caught up to Casilla as he was removed from the closer role in the second half of the season. A poor six-game stretch in early-September compounded the Giants' second-half struggles and forced manager Bruce Bochy to make a change. Even with the late-season implosion, his final numbers were still respectable (3.57 ERA, 10.09 K/9 and 31 saves). Casilla latched on with the Athletics over the offseason, although he seems to be in the mix for a setup role as opposed to a closer role to start. Things can change, but it seems like his value at the onset of the campaign will primarily lie in his ability to amass holds.

Casilla turned in his best fantasy campaign to date in 2015, closing out 38 games with a 2.79 ERA in 58 innings. He posted a career-high 9.6 K/9 while keeping his free passes somewhat in check (3.6 BB/9). On paper, those numbers look spectacular, especially considering his draft day price. However, anyone who rostered Casilla all year will willingly admit that it wasn't as smooth as it seemed. His 1.28 WHIP and 84.3% strand rate (8th among closers) indicate that he frequently had to get out of jams. He also outpitched his FIP by nearly a whole run (3.63 FIP), indicating he was the beneficiary of some luck. Still, the end results should be considered a success for pitcher who was considered middle of the pack coming into the year, and ended in the top-10 among closers. Casilla will assume the closer’s role to begin the season, but Sergio Romo and Hunter Strickland loom in case there is a slip-up.

Predicting Sergio Romo would falter enough to lose the closer’s role would have been challenging enough, but seeing Casilla as his successor would've been even harder. Even though he entered 2014 with a 2.21 ERA in 220 innings with the Giants, he did so with an unimpressive strikeout rate (21.2%) and a flat-out bad K/BB ratio (1.98). He seemed to be living off of an incredible groundball rate (which yielded a tiny home run rate) and a keen ability to strand runners. The 34-year-old had the closer’s role by early July and did well with it. As closer, he had a 24% strikeout rate and 4.0 K/BB ratio in 26 innings. It’s a tiny sample for sure, but those skills will definitely play, especially since the groundball rate hit a career-high 56%, and he continued to strand runners at a tremendous clip (82%). He is lined up for the closer’s role in 2015 and will likely be underrated because of age and the lack of an overpowering strikeout rate.

Casilla had an interesting year in 2013, as he saw his strikeout rate drop (6.8 K/9) and his walk rate rise (4.5 BB/9), but his ERA ended up being lower in 2013 (2.16) than it was in 2012 (2.84). This anomaly can be explained by his ability to keep the ball in the park last season (0.4 HR/9) as opposed to 2012 where almost everything left the yard (1.1 HR/9). This drastic change in peripherals from year-to-year shouldn't come as a surprise from a pitcher whose stuff can be extremely erratic. He should continue to provide decent hold and strikeout numbers while serving as a right-handed setup man for manager Bruce Bochy this season.

Casilla saw his ERA jump from 1.91 in 2011 to 2.78 in 2012 because of a 14.0 percent HR/FB rate (his worst since joining the Giants). In some aspects, Casilla improved considering his career-best walk rate (3.1 BB/9) and groundball rate (55 percent). In addition, he held opposing hitters to a 15.2 percent line drive rate, which in turn helped him to possess a BABIP of .253. Look for Casilla's overall numbers to improve, as manager Bruce Bochy will probably return him to more of a specialized role after Casilla held right-handed hitters to a .263 wOBA last season.

Casilla posted a 1.74 ERA and 1.123 WHIP last season, even recording six saves when Brian Wilson was out with an injury. He still struggles with control and just 2.6 percent of his flyballs went for homers, so he was a bit lucky, but clearly he's tough to hit. Casilla will return to San Francisco in 2012 once again in a middle-relief role.

Casilla really enjoyed his first year in the National League last season, posting a 1.95 ERA and 1.193 WHIP with a 9.11 K/9IP mark and a strong groundball rate (1.86 G/F). His average fastball velocity was among the highest in baseball (96.6 mph), although he continues to struggle with his control (4.23 BB/9IP). The Giants are expected to offer Casilla arbitration, so he'll be back in 2011 to act as one of the team's top setup men.

Continued control problems finally knocked Casilla out of the Oakland bullpen picture, and his 1.779 WHIP and 5.96 ERA in 48.1 innings in 2009 continued the slide that began as soon as he aged three years and changed names several winters back. There's nothing to recommend here.

Casilla's continued control problems (55 walks in 112 career major-league innings now) resulted in another poor season. He'll keep slipping further and further back in the A's bullpen, and might find himself ahead of only Jim Mecir and Billy Taylor by the end of the 2009 season.

Casilla pitched well out of the A's bullpen after being called up mid-season, but it's hard to see exactly where he'll fit if Kiko Calero and Justin Duchscherer return to health, especially considering his struggles after the All-Star break (7.04 ERA, 18 walks in 30.2 innings). There are safer staff-filling options out there.

Casilla, the pitcher formerly known as Jairo Garcia, aged three years in January when his true age and name were revealed after problems with his visa, which helped explain his meteoric rise through the minors. Shoulder tendinitis sidelined him after mid-June, but he still managed a nice 32 Ks and 10 walks in 33 innings. He struggles at times to keep the ball on the ground, and he's pretty well blocked by quality right-handed relievers in Oakland. Now that he'll be 27 years old in June, there's a lot less to like.

Garcia failed to break camp with the A's and actually started the year back at Double-A Midland. He was lights-out there (30 K in 16.2 IP) and posted excellent peripherals at Triple-A Sacramento as well (73 K, 20 BB in 48.1 IP) despite a 4.47 ERA in 44 games. There's not a lot of room in the Oakland bullpen with Huston Street, Jay Witasick, Kiko Calero and Justin Duschscherer already established so Garcia's best bet for immediate value might be in a trade.

Garcia enjoyed a Francisco Rodriguez-like ascent up the minors in 2004, minus the success in the big leagues during September and October. He struggled with his control a bit at the upper levels and his brief trial in Oakland didn't go well either. He needs a half-season at Triple-A in all likelihood. His eventual role with the A's will largely be determined by whether Octavio Dotel remains beyond his arbitration years and how quickly Huston Street develops.

Although Garcia has spent the bulk of his pro career as a starter, the undersized right-hander will ultimately be a relief pitcher. Minor shoulder difficulties have plagued him throughout his career, but he has a live 95 mph fastball with a developing splitter and slider that allows him to maintain a high K-rate. He could climb to Double-A in 2004 with a stint in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League likely in 2005. He should eventually work his way into a late-inning role with a shot at closing a possibility for the future.