Phillies Sign Luis Castillo
The Phillies officially signed Luis Castillo to a minor league deal, the team announced today. He'd been released by the Mets on Friday. The Mets are on the hook for the 35-year-old's $6MM salary, less the league minimum that Philadelphia will pay him. Castillo will either make the team or be released, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters this morning.
The Phillies have a question mark at second base right now given Chase Utley's knee injury, and Castillo gives 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. More than 2,500 MLBTR readers predicted that Castillo would join the Phillies, and Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com was first to tweet the agreement.
Nothing Going On Between Cardinals, Phillies
Earlier this week we heard that the Phillies have some interest in Cardinals' outfielder Jon Jay, though Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears that nothing is going on between the two teams right now (Twitter link). The Cards are looking for a right-handed reliever to replace Kyle McClellan, who will likely take Adam Wainwright's spot in the rotation, but they appear to be looking elsewhere.
The Phillies have eight righty relievers on their 40-man roster, though Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and Jose Contreras probably aren't going anywhere. Since the Cardinals finished with fewer wins than the Padres last year, they had a chance to claim Pat Neshek but apparently decided against it. St. Louis also passed on Kiko Calero earlier this month.
Ben Nicholson-Smith explored Philadelphia's interest in Jay last week.
Quick Hits: Astros, Neshek, Castillo, Phillies
Links for Sunday afternoon..
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says (via Stephen Goff of Examiner.com) it's unlikely the Astros will attend Doug Davis' upcoming workout. Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle reported earlier that the race for Houston's fifth starter was down to Jordan Lyles and Nelson Figueroa, with Ryan Rowland-Smith now vying for a bullpen job.
- Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that the Twins aren't adding anyone to their 40-man roster in light of San Diego's claim of Pat Neshek, suggesting that the team was clearly trying to trade the right-hander but failed.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News writes that the Phillies may not be able to add to their $165MM payroll but believes that they could make personnel moves to create payroll flexibility.
- The White Sox have informed rookie Brent Morel that he's won the starting job at third base, according to Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). This means less playing time for Mark Teahen, whom the club is open to trading.
Phillies, Marlins Not Serious About Castillo
The Phillies and Marlins have both been linked to free agent second baseman Luis Castillo, but neither team appears to be serious about signing the veteran. Castillo was scheduled to officially clear waivers at 1pm EST today.
The Phillies are not high on the idea of signing Castillo to fill-in for Chase Utley at second base, writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. Murphy gets the sense that the Phillies would be willing to take a look at him on a non-guaranteed deal, but there should be other suitors willing to give the veteran more playing time.
Meanwhile, the Marlins haven't completely closed the door on the idea of signing Castillo but they're also not in hot pursuit of him, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The club was considering Castillo to play second base if they decide that Matt Dominguez's bat isn't up to snuff for the big league roster.
The Marlins would have shifted Omar Infante to third base and put someone else – possibly Emilio Bonifacio – at second. Dominguez still may not make the cut out of Spring Training, but the Marlins are not presently searching for a third baseman on the trade market.
Luis Castillo Close To Joining Phillies
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.
Luis Castillo Rumors: Friday
The Mets released Luis Castillo this morning, which means they're responsible for $6MM less the MLB minimum if he signs with another team. That's exactly what the second baseman intends to do, so we're going to keep track of which teams have potential interest right here:
- The Cubs are interested in Castillo, a source told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com.
- The Orioles have "zero" interest in Castillo at this point, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
- The Marlins have spoken internally about re-acquiring Castillo, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Castillo would be a candidate to play second base in case Matt Dominguez doesn't make the team and Omar Infante shifts to third base.
- The Dodgers have no interest in Castillo, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).
- Asked about potential interest, Phillies assistant GM Scott Proefrock said "that remains to be seen," according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki (on Twitter).
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs argues that Castillo could hold down Philadelphia's second base job while Chase Utley recovers. Castillo isn't a long-term answer, but he could do enough to help the Phillies.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports expects that Castillo will sign shortly after clearning waivers on Sunday, and he confirmed that the Phillies, Marlins and Cubs are thought to be in on the veteran second baseman. Rosenthal added that the O's could be interested, depending on how Brian Roberts progresses with his back injury, and he tweeted that the Rockies are not in the mix.
Heyman On Phillies, Tigers, Manny, Rays
The Phillies have “tapped out” their payroll and have “nothing brewing” on the Michael Young front, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Here’s the latest from Heyman as the Phils contemplate whether or not to pursue new free agent Luis Castillo…
- The expectation is that Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, whose contract expires after the season, will be back. Dombrowski declined to comment on the matter.
- Manny Ramirez wanted to play for the Rays or the Blue Jays this year, according to Heyman. Rumors linked Ramirez to Toronto early in the offseason, partly because of the slugger’s affinity for incoming manager John Farrell and partly because he rooted for the great Dominican Blue Jays of the 1980s.
- Team officials say Rays infielder Elliot Johnson has been very impressive this spring.
Phillies Notes: Utley, Polanco, Knapp
The latest on the Phillies, before they take on their intra-state rivals far from Pennsylvania…
- The Phillies' goal with Chase Utley is to avoid surgery at all costs, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- As Olney points out in a column at ESPN.com, this is the point in the spring where injuries have a good chance of impacting Opening Day rosters.
- The Phillies say they aren't worried about Placido Polanco, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The infielder, who is dealing with a hyperextended elbow, practiced yesterday and won't play in a game for at least two days.
- Former Phillies prospect Jason Knapp tells Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he was healthy when Philadelphia sent him to Cleveland as part of the summer 2009 Cliff Lee trade. Knapp, still just 20, has recovered from shoulder problems to re-establish himself as one of Cleveland's top prospects.
Quick Hits: Utley, Wainwright, Harris, Young, Sheets
Some links for St. Patrick's Day as players don green uniforms in Arizona and Florida…
- Chase Utley has made "minimal" improvement since taking a shot for his injured knee, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Though Utley can hit and field, he can't run, so Wilson Valdez will play second base for the time being.
- Adam Wainwright told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's anticipating a high-stakes rehab, since the Cardinals may not exercise his $21MM option for 2012-13 if he struggles. "There's a lot of money resting on me coming back healthy next year," he said.
- Willie Harris can opt out of his contract with the Mets on March 27th, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). There seems to be a good chance that Harris will make the team and the opt-out won't be an issue.
- Michael Young told Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he has found it tough to develop a rhythm this spring, partly because he has been bouncing from one position to another.
- Not surprisingly, Ben Sheets isn't negotiating with any teams, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Sheets' 2010 season ended early when he needed flexor tendon surgery.
Examining The Phillies’ Interest In Jon Jay
The Phillies are targeting Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The Phils are apparently intrigued by what Jay did in his rookie season last year, when he hit .300/.359/.422 in 323 plate appearances and played all three outfield positions. Here’s a closer look at what the Phillies’ interest in Jay could mean:
- The Phillies are considering ways of adding outfielders to the organization, which just lost Jayson Werth. Raul Ibanez becomes a free agent after the season and Shane Victorino is eligible for free agency after 2012, so the Phillies’ outfield could look considerably different in a couple of seasons.
- The Cardinals aren't the only ones who like Jay, a career .301 hitter in the minors who ranked 13th among St. Louis' prospects before last year, according to Baseball America.
But…
- Just because the Phillies have targeted Jay doesn’t mean they’re willing to meet the Cardinals’ asking price.
- And it doesn't mean that the Cardinals are willing to give Jay up. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America described him as a rangy outfielder with a fringy arm and a knack for hitting for average. He's under team control through 2016 and won't hit arbitration before the 2012-13 offseason, so he'll be cheap for a while.
- It doesn’t mean that Jay, who turned 26 yesterday, is the Phillies' lone target – or even their primary target.
- Philadelphia’s interest doesn’t mean they’re expecting anything less from Domonic Brown, their top prospect. The 23-year-old is recovering from hand surgery and should be ready to return soon after the season begins.