Is there a Mets fan alive who wants to see Luis Castillo at second base on Opening Day 2011?
Unfortunately, it will take a minor miracle by Sandy Alderson to move him this winter — without swallowing some or all of the $6M left on his contract.
But let’s pretend Castillo is out of the picture, and the Mets are looking at the free-agent market to take his place. In such a case what are the Mets’ options?
Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson has signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, prompting the Nationals to sign Adam Kennedy as their second sacker.
Thus, it appears that Mets fans will endure another year of Luis Castillo at second base.
Yes, there are delusional fans still clinging to the fantasy that the Reds will trade Brandon Phillips for Omir Santos, but I wouldn’t count on it. Castillo is most likely Jose Reyes’ partner at the keystone come Opening Day.
Is it such a terrible thing?
Forget about the ironic pipe dream of platooning Jeff Francoeur with Ryan Church in right field next year — Church has signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Additionally, you can drop the possibility of Ramon Castro returning to the Mets to bolster their second-string catching depth, since Castro has re-signed with the White … Read more
There is an excellent column written by Ben Shpigel in The New York Times explaining why the Mets want to trade Luis Castillo.
Shpigel lists a number of statistics supporting the desire to move Castillo, but it’s doubtful anyone in the Mets front office would understand the ones cited, much less use them in decision-making. So we’ll focus on the real reasons Omar Minaya and co. are hell-bent on trading the second baseman.
Free agents go on the open market today, and with a lack of trading chips, the Mets are expected to dive in deep to fill their multiple holes.
At minimum, they need at least one starting pitcher — maybe two; a catcher; a left fielder; a utility infielder; a LOOGY; a righthanded reliever; and a first baseman (though, that one’s up for argument).
With so many holes to fill and the Mets desperate to erase the 2009 season from memory, fans should fear the following.
The Hot Stove Season is underway, and already we have a flurry of buzz and rumors. One whirlwind post from Adam Rubin is chock full of information (or misinformation, take your pick), which I’ll break down here.
Except for that one matter of a dropped popup in the bottom of the ninth inning of a Yankees game, Luis Castillo played as well as anyone could have expected — and far beyond the expectations of most Mets fans.
Anyone who was reading MetsToday back in early April might remember my “Wild Mets Predictions“. Most of them were off, but one of them was:
Back in November, word on the street was that Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson was looking for a 5-year, $50M contract. Had the Mets not been saddled with the three years and $18M remaining on Luis Castillo’s contract, they surely would have at least entered the bidding on Hudson — and might have signed … Read more
