MLB

Red Sox beat out Yankees for Cuban stud Rusney Castillo

The Red Sox whiffed on Cuban slugger Jose Abreu, but they are landing his countryman, Rusney Castillo.

Castillo, a speedy outfielder/infielder with pop, has agreed to a seven-year, $72.5 million deal with Boston that begins in 2014, according to The Post’s Joel Sherman.

He won’t begin to receive the bulk of his contract until next year, but structuring the deal to begin this year lowers the average annual value (which helps for luxury-tax purposes) and makes Castillo available to play this season if he passes a physical (reportedly scheduled for Saturday) and receives a visa.

The Yankees were heavily involved in scouting Castillo, as were the Tigers, Cubs, Giants and Phillies. The Post’s Joel Sherman reported the Yankees never made an offer, in part because they felt the luxury-tax penalty was too onerous for a player of Castillo’s caliber. Because they repeatedly have gone over the luxury-tax threshold, and are therefore penalized at 50 percent, paying $72 million for Castillo would have cost them $108 million altogether.

Castillo, 27, will join fellow Cuban Yoenis Cespedes in Boston. The slugging outfielder, in his third major league season, came to the Red Sox in the blockbuster Jon Lester trade. Castillo’s contract tops Abreu’s six-year, $68 million deal, which he inked with the White Sox this past offseason, as the largest given to an amateur player, though because it begins this season, the average annual luxury-tax value will be lower.

Cespedes told WEEI.com earlier this month Castillo was “very comparable to [Dodgers outfielder Yasiel] Puig. Obviously a different height and size, but very similar qualities.” ESPN reported another talent evaluator compared Castillo to Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen.

“Above-average speed. Can play center field or right field,” Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters Friday. “What kind of power? What kind of average? Obviously our scouts liked him enough, if the reports are true, that’s a significant investment.

“It’s an exciting, athletic player by all accounts.”

Castillo was absent from the team that represented Cuba in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Baseball America reported he defected in December after being suspended from the Cuban national team for a “violation of the code of ethics of revolutionary baseball,” an indication he had attempted to defect before.

Castillo, repped by Jay Z’s Roc Nation, put on a show in a late July workout for 28 teams. The Red Sox had five representatives there, compared with four for the Yankees.

“There’s obviously been attention on this,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told MLB.com on Tuesday. “He’s a player that we’ve seen and have talked to, but we’re just one of several teams that have done that. There’s nothing more I can say than that. I’m not going to get into our evaluation [of Castillo] in public. Again, we’ve seen him, we’ve talked to him and we’re one of several teams that have done that. There’s not really anything else I can say.”

Castillo dominated the Cuba Serie Nacional league, hitting .315 during his time there while playing both center field and the middle infield. He hit with average and power, posting a .501 slugging percentage and .881 OPS, but hasn’t played competitively since 2012.