A bevy of sources are reporting that the Associated Press is reporting that Luis Castillo has signed a 4-year, $25M deal with the Mets.

Funny, isn’t it, what a Yorvit Torrealba deal gone bad can do to a media outlet? Now instead of being “first to the scoop” when it comes to Mets news, everyone is “reporting” what someone else is reporting. Or something like that.

Usually, we can trust the AP with things like this. Of course, we thought we could trust the MLB.com website, too, but found that to be not the case. Although, MLB.com IS reporting the same deal.

For the moment, we will temporarily accept this turn of events as factual, for the purpose of filling our afternoon with useless blogging.

Four years seems like a long commitment for a 32-year-old second baseman with a bad knee. And considering that he’s from the Dominican Republic, there’s at least some reason to believe he could be a few years older than 32. But we won’t go there.

The funny thing is, in 2003, the Mets likely would have balked at a 4-year deal for the then-27 year-old second baseman with a healthy set of knees. Now though, the Mets had to overpay — there really wasn’t much of a choice. It was either 4/25 for Castillo or 4/25 for David Eckstein, and which would YOU prefer?

Luis Castillo proved he could handle playing in New York, and that counts for something. He proved that he still has a great glove and can turn a double play with the best of them, even if his range is now severely limited. And he proved he could still put the bat on the ball, as well as take a walk, and made an ideal #2 hitter — those are not so easy to find. And even with a bad wheel, he proved he could still steal a base. And he played hard and focused. Further, there is some hope that he’ll regain some of his Gold Glove range and his basestealing speed after knee surgery. Compare all that to Eckstein, who has always played in small markets, has never had the speed of Castillo, never takes a walk, hit .300 for the first time in his career last year (Castillo has done it 7 times), would have to change his position (with no guarantee he’d turn a DP well from the second base side), and has had two consecutive injury-marred seasons.

The Eckstein consideration, in fact, looks worse and worse the more you examine it. He’s been a leadoff hitter the last few years, despite an average OBP and little speed. With Albert Pujols hitting third, you’d think a leadoff batter would score 100+ runs on an annual basis, yet Eckstein hasn’t done that since 2002 with the Angels. Because he doesn’t walk very often — strange, you’d think that he did — his OBP is directly reliant on his batting average, which makes him, effectively, a shorter and quicker version of Paul LoDuca. The idea that he would easily transition to second base was taken all too easily — the double play turn is completely different, as are the throws. Yes, he can probably do it, and probably will be required to make the move eventually, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be a defensive whiz at the position. Jose Reyes didn’t look so great on the right side back in ’04, did he? And Reyes is much more athletically gifted than Eckstein.

Considering the alternative options, the Luis Castillo signing looks good. Three years would have been more comfortable but hey, sometimes you have to overpay. Now that second base and the #2 spot in the order is settled, Omar Minaya can get back to the plan of finding a catcher and a few pitchers.

1. Yorvit re-injured his shoulder in the midst of signing his name on the contract.

2. Ramon Castro was upset about his backup making more money in one year than he would be making in two.

3. Turns out he CAN’T speak Spanish, and only comprehends a bit of “spanglish”.

4. Mets officials were “paid a visit” by some “old neighborhood friends” of Paul LoDuca.

5. Mets secretary couldn’t get “Torrealba” spelled correctly on the paperwork.

6. Minaya assistants reported vicious backlash by fans and pundits in the blogosphere.

7. Yorvit made an undisclosed anti-semitic comment to Fred Wilpon.

8. Yorvit was doing more than “lifting weights” in an effort to become a better hitter during the 2005-2006 offseason.

9. Mets are on the cusp of making Johan Santana deal — and Joe Mauer is a “throw in”.

10. Wilpons concerned about rumors that Yorvit was love child of Joe Torre and Jessica Alba.

While the votes continue to pile up in the Rate the Free Agents booth, I thought I’d take some time now to list my personal favorite free agent targets, by position.

Catcher

Oh, crap, that one’s already filled. That was quick.

Second Base

1. Luis Castillo
2. Luis Castillo
3. Luis Castillo
4. Mark Loretta
5. David Eckstein
6. Tadahito Iguchi
7. Kaz … just kidding!
8. Anyone other than Miguel Cairo

It’s imperative that the Mets re-sign Castillo, but four years may be tough to swallow for a 32-year-old with bad knees.

Starting Pitcher

1. Carlos Silva
2. Livan Hernandez
3. Jason Jennings
4. Jon Lieber
5. Bartolo Colon
6. Matt Clement
7. Kyle Lohse
8. Freddy Garcia
9. Wade Miller

We’ve been through this — the Mets need innings-eaters, and Silva and Livan fit the bill. I like Jennings on a two-year deal. Lieber, Colon, and Garcia were once workhorses, so they have the intestinal fortitude (Colon simply has the largest stomach), and I’d offer one-year flyers to them as well. Clement has wicked, wicked stuff and could be worth a gamble. Lohse is the premier enigma — looks unhittable one day, awful the next; maybe he’s the next Kelvim Escobar. Wade Miller probably has nothing left by I always like him, so call it an emotional choice.

Relief Pitcher

1. Mariano Rivera
2. Francisco Cordero
3. Octavio Dotel
4. Troy Percival
5. Scott Linebrink
6. David Riske
7. Luis Vizcaino
8. Byung-Hyun Kim
9. Jeremy Affeldt
10. Jorge Julio
11. Mike Myers
12. Kerry Wood
13. Chad Harville
14. Scott Strickland
15. Franklyn German
16. Tanyon Sturtze
17. Cliff Politte
18. Jesse Foppert
19. Ricardo Rincon
20. Eddie Guardado
21. Joe Kennedy
22. Chris Reitsma

Give Mo’ fo’ betta years. Lyle-Gossage didn’t work 30 years ago because there was no such thing as “setup men” back then. It’ll work now — Billy and Mariano will figure it out and make history.

It should be pointed out that the Cisco kid will be 33 years old at the beginning of next season. You’d rather give him four years than Mo?

Just about everyone after Vizcaino on this list would be a minor-league deal, except of course Wood who would be a calculated gamble. Some may think Linebrink should be higher but I wouldn’t want to give him the three-year deal he’ll seek, and think that Percival and Dotel may settle for two years.

Infield – Outfield / Bench

1. Mike Sweeney
2. Shawn Green
3. Jose Valentin
4. Todd Walker
5. Mark Bellhorn
6. Travis Lee
7. Ryan Klesko

Obviously there isn’t much room on the Mets’ bench, and unless someone (Milledge?) gets traded there won’t be any outfielders signed. Sweeney would be a nice bat to have on the bench if he can stay healthy. Green and Valentin are emotional choices — unfortunately neither fits on the team any more. I’m still stuck on Walker being an ideal, professional hitter to come off the bench in a Jeff Conine role, but Willie is stuck on Damion Easley. Bellhorn intrigues me for his versatility, power, patience, and facial hair. Lee has no fit but I’ve always liked him as a hard-nosed all-around ballplayer. Klesko also has no fit and is older but boy can he rake.

Who are your favorites?

Something just occurred to me in regard to the signing of Yorvit Torrealba (which was officially posted on MLB.com today) — Yorvit is the first free-agent of the Hot Stove Season to sign with another team. All other free agents signed thus far had signed with their current / 2007 team. Torrealba is the first to take advantage of the open market.

So, you could say that the Mets have more or less established the value of this winter’s free agent market.

Maybe that’s too broad a stroke to paint, but there’s no doubt that this signing will directly or indirectly affect every other signing that follows. Because the Mets have established that a career backup catcher is worth three years and almost fifteen million dollars on the open market, all remaining free-agents are now readjusting the perception of their own individual value.

In other words, Kaz Matsui (for example) may have previously thought that he’d have a hard time getting a three year commitment from another team. However, seeing his teammate ride the momentum of the Rockies’ postseason excitement should affect Matsui’s self-evaluation. After all, he has more years as a starter (albeit at second base) than Torrealba, and many more proven offensive tools. So suddenly he’s worth at least 3/15 to someone looking for a starting second baseman. And if borderline starters such as Kaz and Yorvit are getting 3/15, that means legit starting players should be commanding much higher deals.

Last year, I *think* the first free agent to sign a “foreign” contract was Justin Speier with the Angels — it was a four-year $18M deal. There’s no doubt that deal established the value of middle relievers, because by the end of the month Chad Bradford signed his seemingly insane 3-year deal with the Orioles. Further, after a middle reliever’s value was established, the fringe fifth and “sixth” starters realized much higher values than anyone imagined — how else did it explain the bloated contracts signed by people such as Jason Marquis, Ted Lilly, Jeff Suppan, Gil Meche, etc.?

So, along with quickly finding their starting catcher for 2008, the Mets have also set the bar for all free agent contracts going forward this winter. This could, actually, be a good thing for the deep-pocketed (but alligator-armed) Wilpons. Without an assortment of trading chips, the Mets’ most effective way to improve their ballclub likely will be through the free-agent market. And by signing Yorvit Torrealba to an overvalued contract, they may have indirectly affected the deals to be signed in the future by, for example, Carlos Silva, Mariano Rivera, and Livan Hernandez. The ceiling for those targets could be too high for teams that otherwise would have offered them contracts, which means the Mets could have less competition and a better chance of acquiring those arms.

Or am I overthinking this? Thoughts?