brad emaus

2011 Evaluation: Justin Turner

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The biggest competition in Port St. Lucie last March was at second base, where Luis Castillo, Dan Murphy, and Brad Emaus auditioned for the starting position. Oh, there was mention of Justin Turner, but the scrappy utilityman was written off fairly early; even the names Luis Hernandez and Chin-lung Hu were ahead of Turner on the depth chart. Mainly because he still held an option, it was a foregone conclusion that Turner would start the season in AAA and be summoned only if some kind of catastrophe occurred at the keystone.

In fact, the Mets were so certain of how things would turn out in the middle of the infield, Emaus was listed as their second baseman on the MLB All-Star ballot.

Funny how the best laid plans of mice and Mets often fall astray …

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Luis Castillo Released

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In case you are just crawling out from under your rock, Luis Castillo was released by the Mets on Friday afternoon. Soon after, Mets fans were dancing in the streets.

What I don’t get is why Castillo hung around this long. Further, why he was asked to report to Port St. Lucie in the first place, taking reps and at-bats from Brad Emaus, Dan Murphy, and Justin Turner. Further,why was Castillo the one dismissed from auditions first?

Here’s my point: if Castillo was

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Ian Desmond’s Errors No Big Deal

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Since the Mets are playing the Nats today, I thought this article was appropriate: Dan Daly of the Washington Post did a boxscore-by-boxscore study of shortstop Ian Desmond’s errors, and found that they weren’t really that big of a deal. Desmond has received a lot of flak for making 34 errors, but Daly discovered they … Read more

What If Luis Castillo Wins 2B Job?

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After a long delay, Luis Castillo finally arrived on time in Port St. Lucie.

I know many people are miffed that Castillo didn’t get to camp a week ago, but he had a legitimate reason — his brother is going in for serious surgery next week. Even if he didn’t have a personal matter to tend to, I’m not sure that an early arrival would have made a difference one way or the other in regard to his chances of making the team nor in the way he is viewed by the new Mets management (the on-field and front office staffs included).

Yes, it would have been nice if Castillo showed up around the same time as the pitchers and catchers. But really, at this point, how would it have mattered? He’s been in pro ball for 15 years, and by now should have a good idea of what he needs to do to get ready for a 162-game season. You could say that by arriving early, Castillo would have “sent a message” that he’s “serious” about having a comeback season. But in all honesty, is that really what you want? Be careful what you wish for, the saying goes.

Let’s pretend Castillo had

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