Throughout the season, Luis Castillo has made it clear that he isn't thrilled with his role on the Mets bench. Just yesterday, he told Mike Puma of the New York Post that he wants to play regularly in 2011, since he'll hit free agency after next year. At this point, Castillo thinks the Mets will be able to find a taker for him this offseason, but it seems unlikely that any team would choose to offer him a starting role.
Castillo makes $6MM this year and he has struggled at the plate. He still makes contact on an unusually high percentage of the pitches he swings at and still has a good eye for the strike zone, but he has a .235/.338/.267 line. Any team interested in Castillo would also have to keep in mind that he has played all 14,373 of his major league innings at second base. Versatility is not one of the 35-year-old's calling cards.
Second basemen David Eckstein, Orlando Hudson and Mark Ellis (club option) are eligible for free agency this offseason, so the Mets could call the Padres, Twins and, potentially, the A's to see if they have interest in Castillo. The Tigers, Royals and Cardinals have options at second, but not well-established ones, so the Mets could try to peddle Castillo to one of those teams, too.
But it doesn't seem likely that any GM will look at his options and decide that he wants to pursue Luis Castillo as his next everyday second baseman. The Mets may trade Castillo, but there are so many established second basemen that his chances of playing every day don't seem much better than Jeff Francoeur's were when he was hoping for a similar opportunity.
Eckstein ($1m), Hudson ($5m) and Ellis ($5.5m) are all better and will make less than $6m in 2011.
Castillo is a $1m/year or minor league invite if he were to be a free agent this off-season. To assume that someone will take on any portion of his contract is crazy.
Is he signed for next year or a free agent? If he’s signed there is no way anyone will take that contract unless the Mets take 90% of it.
I’m pretty sure it was assumed that the Mets would need to eat at least 75% of that contract, if not all but the minimum.
I’m pretty sure it was assumed that the Mets would need to eat at least 75% of that contract, if not all but the minimum.
I’m in the minority, but I think Castillo still is a capable lead off type hitter. He’s vastly over paid, but I think his skill set can still help a few teams. Castillo would be a good lead off hitter for the Padres. They like to use the retread types to fill holes. The Royals might be an option also. The Cards could use him to lead off also, but I think they’d want to address other needs first.
With what? His .338 OBP?
With what? His .338 OBP?
Every time I see a guy on the block that a team just wants to dump I think Cubs. Last year Bradley, this offseason Zambrano?
I think the Cubs are the Mets best shot. I am not sure they take back Castillo for Zamby or even now if they trade him. However, what about a deal for Fukudome. I keep reading they will try and unload him. FU could come over and be the 4th OF next year while also providing protection vs another injury OR more versatility to trade Beltran.
^^^^^^^
did this guy just call fukodome a 4th outfielder ?
Well, kinda. Obviously on the Mets there is no such thing when 2 of the starting OF are Bay and Beltran and the other one is Pagan who in his past life also had a tendency for injury. So in the traditional sense of a 4th OF who never plays? No. In the Mets sense of a guy who could go into a 4 man rotation for the OF? Sure. It is well known the Cubs want to dump his salary.
I am assuming you will now tell me about how great he is. Question is, which he are you getting?
The 1st half: .252 .347 .414 .762
2nd half: .318 .434 .523 .957 (in half as many games)
or the Career: .262 .369 .412 .782
If I were the Mets, I don’t know that I’d be willing to pay an additional $7.5MM for essentially 1 more WAR. The more prudent baseball and financial move would be to eat a large majority of Castillo’s contract in hopes of dumping him on someone, or just flat out release him and eat $6MM without taking back another albatross.
True but my thoughts were that with Beltran and Bay you will need 4 starting OF on the team and FU would allow you to have flexibility if you trade or if you keep Beltran.
I hear Wal-Mart is hiring.
I’m sure any team willing to take on half a million of Castillo’s salary could have him without giving up any players. The question is whether there’s a GM in baseball who’d want him on his team at all at this point. He was still a decent player last year, so there might be someone out there willing to give him a chance. But he’s ill-suited to being a bench player due to his lack of versatility.
Mets need to eat a good portion of his contract in order to move him. He would do better on another team where he would not be under as much scrutiny as he is in NY. The Mets fans have never let him live down dropping the Pop-up against the Yankees to lose the game, and it’s a dislike that still simmers under the surface. To compound that, he has played at times, really stupid baseball to make matters worse. A change of scenery would do him a world of good.
A change of scenery won’t change the fact that he sucks at this point in his career. His past glory, based on plus legs, will not be recaptured as he is now old, has bad knees, and is overweight.
A change of scenery won’t change the fact that he sucks at this point in his career. His past glory, based on plus legs, will not be recaptured as he is now old, has bad knees, and is overweight.
If the Mariners don’t pick up Jose Lopez’s $5.5 MM option for 2011 and then non-tender him (since he’d still make close to that in arbitration), they might take a shot on Castillo as a one-year bridge at 2B to Dustin Ackley. Ackley is not yet ready for the majors; he needs to bulk up a little and start driving the ball better to be worthy of his #2 overall selection last year. Chone Figgins could then move back to 3B where he belongs; he’s an absolute butcher at 2B. The only problem is that the M’s would have 4 really anemic power bats in the lineup (Ichiro and Figgins at the top, Jack Wilson and Castillo at the bottom) with only Franklin Gutierrez locked up as any kind of run-producing threat. If they bring Russell Branyan back, there would be a little thump in the order, and if they thought Justin Smoak is ready for prime-time, he could represent a power threat. But neither is a lock to be in the M’s 2011 lineup as of now.
He has a higher OBP then Aaron Hill!
“Who wants you?” -JP Riccardi
Orlando Hudson to the Mets makes so much sense that the Mets will surely look elsewhere.
It’s made sense the past 2 years.
It’s made sense the past 2 years.
I doubt the Tigers are willing to spend anything for a 35 year old 2nd baseman when they still have Sizemore, Raburn, Santiago, and Rhymes. Also, Carlos Guillen has said that he would like to play 2nd base next year.
Why wont the mets JUST RELEASE CASTILLO !?!?!
o wait…Jeff Wilpon is running the team ….they dont believe in throwing anything away…rumor has it that Jeff still wears size 9 shoes despite the fact that his feet have grown to size 10 already…the fact that his feet hurt everyday and he has to see a foot doctor now does not discourage him from wearing these shoes…cant throw em away until the rubber is gone !
Because they’ll have to pay him regardless.
Why wont the mets JUST RELEASE CASTILLO !?!?!
o wait…Jeff Wilpon is running the team ….they dont believe in throwing anything away…rumor has it that Jeff still wears size 9 shoes despite the fact that his feet have grown to size 10 already…the fact that his feet hurt everyday and he has to see a foot doctor now does not discourage him from wearing these shoes…cant throw em away until the rubber is gone !
Castillo must be smoking something if he thinks any team is going to pick him up via trade. he sucks offensively, aging, his range is not what it once was… not someone you’d trade anybody for, unless it were another bad contract.
Hey Mikewsf,
Tell the truth, you’re still angry over the pop-up
Time to bend over and take the loss – move on
I don’t understand why people don’t like Ruben Tejada. He’s made some great plays on the field and has a solid arm. People also forget the fact that Tejada is still not 21 years old. The Mets aren’t making the playoffs this year or next year (Lucky if they finish 82-80 this year), so why get older players like Hudson or Ellis?
@ Ike_Davis
You make a solid point on Tejada, but the Mets play in NY. Charging big prices and fielding a rebuilding team does not go over well in Flushing. In addition the kid is not yet near .200 as a batter. He’s been great in the field, but he’s younger version of Castillo in the Batter’s box. Hudson and Eckstein are proven solid players that can make a difference on a team like the Mets, who are not as far away from playoff contention as many people would have you believe.