Former Mets second baseman Luis Castillo is close to joining the Phillies, a source told ESPN New York's Adam Rubin. Castillo was scheduled to clear waivers at 1pm ET today, and Philadelphia will only have to pay him the league minimum.
The Phillies have a bit of a question mark at second base right now given Chase Utley's knee injury, and Castillo would give them a veteran stopgap. Although he hit just .235/.337/.267 in 299 plate appearances last season, Castillo is only a year removed from a .387 OBP. The Mets are on the hook for the 35-year-old's $6MM salary, less whatever Philadelphia pays him.
More than 2,500 MLBTR readers predicted that Castillo would join the Phillies.
This post was originally published on March 20th, 2011.
Aaaahahahahaha. Now they’re gonna have two 2B with shot knees.
No more MY threads? I can drink to that.
As Dave Cameron pointed out, he’ll probably be around a +1 win player. Even if he provides equal value to Wilson Valdez, it’ll allow for Valdez to provide depth as a utility player. Even though Young and Barfield have had good springs, they haven’t provided the value over the last couple years that Castillo has had (albeit marginal.) Plus, if/when Utley comes back later this year, they can just release him, no big deal.
As someone who had the misfortune of watching Castillo last year, I can tell you he’s done. Absolutely NO power (SLG% under .300), and terrible defense. Not to mention the fact that he’s treated like a pitcher now in terms of outfield positioning.
If Castillo is forced into a significant amount of action, the Phillies are in serious trouble.
No offense, but when someone who uses “trust me, i watched him play” as their main piece of evidence to backup their conclusion, I take it with a huge mine of salt.
Okay then:
He had a .267 slugging percentage last year
He had 6 extra base hits in 247 ABs
He had a career high in GB%
And despite his positive defensive rating from last year, his defense is definitely below average at this point.
His only asset at this point is his plate discipline, which is kind of negated by the fact that pitchers aren’t afraid to throw him strikes.
I wasn’t defending Luis Castillo nor asserting the fact that he is a good player. I’m just saying from a relative standpoint, he is a better alternative to take the 25th bench spot than Josh Barfield or Delwyn Young. Castillo’s BABIP was below normal last year, so he should bounce back to around 1 win. A 1 win temporary stopgap second baseman is not the worst thing in the world, especially when he is basically free. Young has never had a 1.0 WAR season in his entire career, and Barfield hasn’t had one since 2006.
tl;dr Castillo isn’t a good player, but he’s better than any in-house alternatives the Phillies have to take Utley’s roster spot for the time being.
Valdez is better. At this point I value his defense more than the slight OBP advantage Castillo brings.
Valdez is a moot point. He has a roster spot. That isn’t changing with Castillo or Utley there.
You’re assuming his defense stays right about where it was last year, which might be a stretch considering where it was the previous two years.
Ok, so at worst, he has equal value to Barfield/Young. So therefore, you still paying the same amount of money for the same amount of production. It just doesn’t make any sense to be so adamantly against it.
He’s never had power.
Wow, he may hit 2 homers with that ballpark lol
It would be the Mets’ luck that he would hit the first one off R.A. Dickey
Im a Phillies fan and this suck. Dude is washed up.
Im a Braves fan and this is great. Dude is washed up
Im a Yankees fan and this doesnt affect me. Dude is washed up
How ungrateful can you be? He has given all Yankees fans one of the most memorable victories in recent years. All Yankees fans should flock over to Citi Field when Philadelphia comes in and give Louie a standing O.
I’m a Mets fan and this is beyond great. Dude can be washed up for the phillies
I’m a Braves fan and I love this news!!!
two words: Brooks Conrad.
The guy who MIGHT make the team and even if he does, he won’t be thrust into major playing time like last year?
What does he have to do with anything?
He’s the Braves backup, just like Castillo will be. Valdez isnt going anywhere.
Sorry, Conrad can still PH. Guy can hit HR’s and is a SHer.
I’m a Mets fan and this is great. Dude is washed up. Hey Phils, we got another pile o’ crap comin’ your way tomorrow. Puleeeeeese, sign Ollie too!
Enjoy last place.
Good comeback….not.
I’m a washed up fan that is washed up myself and this guy is washed up.
If he sucks, they cut him, the Mets are paying him anyway. Its a no lose situation.
What about the games the phillies lose because they have a stationary object covering second base and someone with the hitting skills of a 12 year old in their lineup not producing anything? Sorry, but those couple games could cost you the division.
Yes – your rotation is great.. But your lineup is aging, and the braves are not that far behind.
i’m not sure why mets fans think things are suddenly going to work out in their favor. castillo clearly knows the law of the universe that if something can go worse for the mets, it will – and he’s playing his cards accordingly here
fate will find a way for him to hit .290/.370/.400 with plus defense for the phils in 2011, Angels in the Outfield style
“the law of the universe that if something can go worse for the mets, it will”
ollie’s law?
I think you mean Murphy’s Law? I’m not sure though….
I got the joke.
minaya’s law
People laughed at Wilson Valdez being a scrub last year and he had a nice season for the Phils. They also laughed when we signed a “washed up” Matt Stairs and he hit one of biggest home runs in our postseason history. Last year we signed a “washed up” Mike Sweeney and he contributed filling in for Ryan Howard. Castillo doesn’t need to be a hero, if he hits .270 or so and advances runners with sac bunts etc.,, that is fine. With the 4 aces our offense just needs guys to fill roles and do the little things. He can rejuvenate his career entering into our locker room surrounded by winning serious veteran players. If he sucks and hits .200 the 1st month, then we cut him and it cost us what 300K? No risk there.
couldn’t agree more, there’s no risk in this signing, just don’t let him play infield in the 9th inning :p
Among the little things that Luis will do will be to slowly suck the air out of any rally you may have going with a three-hopper to short. He will not kill you with making errors, because he won’t be able to get to the balls in the first place. This is perfect! He follows in the footsteps of Nelson Figueroa and Brian Schneider. So much for Phillie pride. Turnabout for Chris Coste.
Nelson Figueroa and Brian Schneider did a solid job for us last year. Figueroa was only released because Lidge & Madson came back from the DL, not because of his performance.
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But sometimes one man’s trash is still just one man’s trash.
He’ll be released by May.
Pat Burrell was washed up last year too..
Probably when Utley comes back.
With the Mets luck, he is gonna win the batting crown this year.
I wonder how many posters of Omar Minaya and Jerry “The Sage” Manuel Ruben Amaro Jr has up in his mom’s basement?
Haha Great move for the Phillies, they are getting a true All Star sike
Nice to see him suck for the Phils for a change now
Lets go METS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for paying his salary!
Thanks for saving us the league minimum!
Your owners are getting sued for a BILLION. Glad we could do our part to help!
… except you’re paying much more than the league minimum.
Why does everyone bash this deal so much. No risk high reward. He does good, great its a win win situation we keep him on the bench when Utley comes back. He sucks we cut him and lose 400k.
No reason to knock this deal. The guy is free.
Not quite free. Almost though.
Still isn’t worth it.
Id rather have Barfield or Valdez out there…but depth is always good, I guess…
Valdez will start ahead of Castillo because his defense is WAY better. Castillo is just there in case Rollins or Polanco get injured and Valdez has to slide over to SS or 3B.
I’d say if giving 100 or so AB’s to Luis Castillo in April and May makes or breaks the Phillies season, then they have much larger concerns on their hands.
Ug, this sucks. Valdez is the answer…or Barfield…not sign some guy my age well past his prime. We have too many guys past their prime already…I am all about keeping Valdez or Barfield to see if they could be up and coming starters. IF Valdez can improve the hitting he would be a perfect replacement for Utley while he recoveres.