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In a recent column for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal 
writes that the Mets are looking at a Ramon Castro-Yorvit Torrealba tandem, with Castro getting the majority of the starts.
As Rosenthal points out, Castro has never started more than 57 games in a season.
Additionally, Castro has been on the disabled list in each of his three seasons with the Mets.
…this proposed arrangement is in line with cerrone’s thinking from a post earlier today…it’s funny, down the stretch of the season, i heard an outcry from fans demanding more playing time for castro…sure, it was partially due to lo duca’s health, but it was also due to castro’s offensive production…
…now that it looks like castro might be the guy, i hear fans clamoring for lo duca again…what can you say…maybe i’m in the minority in this case, but i’m happy to see this team looking at a player who is under 30 years old…that said, who will fill lo duca’s shoes with the media, i have no idea…
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i like this idea.. I think the days of One Catcher starting 140+ games is over with..
Its a long season and a brutal position..
NOT FOR 15 MILLION FOR 3 YEARS.
I RATHER HAVE DiFelice.
Torrealba AND HIM BOTH HAVE NUMBERS THAT ARE THE SAME.
USE THAT MONEY FOR A-ROD~!!
Mets.com says it’s 2 years, 10 million.
Not 3 years, 15 million.
And I’d certaintly say the Mets official website is a little more credible then Cerrone, Sorry Matt.
it’s an MLB writer, not press coming from the Mets.
normally I would like it too, except now we know that Castro has an ARTHRITIC back. this is not chiropractor material. it could be serious. of course, omar will give him a multi year deal.
Ramon’s all right with his backup making more money than he?
Yeah, this is my only issue with this. If Castro really gets more starts than I am okay with this plan.
I guess i’m ok with the platoon…i wonder why Torrealba would sign with the Mets to be a parttime player though.
I can give you 5 million reasons.
look no further than david wright. david has arrived, and is now the spokesperson/leader for this team. lo duca’s brooklyn born-italian temper-wannabe pete rose act is old.
No it isn’t. His act is great. His OPS sucks.
the more I think about this, the more it makes sense.
Torreabeala or whatever his name is, frankly, sucks. But over the next three years, he’ll probably be the same as LoDuca, and at 6 years younger, he may well be better. Castro seems like a guy who could be good in 90-100 games- at least he’s got pop- so it’s not the worst move.
Bottom line? If you want to complain, look no further than a shallow, poorly constructed farm system for why the mets’ offseason will be a lot quieter than any of us would like. If Boston, Cleveland, Colorado, etc. have taught us anything, it’s that you HAVE to develop quality young talent, and a lot of it, to truly be in a position to compete. We can’t make any deals because we only have a few prospects worth anything, and we need them to play in the majors. Look at Boston- they could deal prospects for Beckett, Lowell, and gagne because they had pedroia, and ellsbury, and lester, and papelbon, and youkalis, etc. Draft and develop an assload of talent- that’s the most important thing we can do.
Otherwise? Well, you’re stuck signing guys like Yorvit Torbeala.
YES!!!!!!!
i agree with this sentiment entirely, however, with that approach comes patience, you can’t build a farm system in a year, let alone 3 years. The way our farm system looked before Omar came along, it was dismal. It’s getting better, I just think its going to take some time to truly build it up to something worthwhile.
Agree that it takes patience and time, but do you really think it’s getting better? I don’t.
According to Manuel at BA.
The Mets farm system has the talent, it’s just mostly stuck in the lower levels of the minors. So it’s 2-3 years away. I guess we’ll see if he’s right.
You know if we’d sprinkled a little more Castro in the past year, maybe LoDuca would have stayed fresher. I’m done with LoDuca, though. 35 year old catchers who don’t get on base are a bad investment. If Castro and Torrealba split time better, I’m on board.
Bad idea if you ask me. Castro will be out for the season by June and we’ll be back to having to use DiFelice. The Mets should cut their ties with Castro and get a dependable backup (Jose Molina).
Something doesn’t add up here. How are the Mets gonna sign Torealba for 3 years at 5 million a year and Castro for 2 years at 2 million a year and have Castro be the “starter”? Doesn’t make sense. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Maybe the Mets are throwing up there own smoke screen? The only Catcher that is an “up and coming start” as far as I am concerned plays for the Dodgers….Martin
Mets.com says it’s 2 years, 10 million.
Not 3 years, 15 million.
And I’d certaintly say the Mets official website is a little more credible then Cerrone, Sorry Matt.
I’d be happy with this but you have to believe the 3 yr $15 Mil for Torrealba is not the right #. If Castro is the main catcher he makes more or at least the same.
Lo Duca has be in the top ten in hitting in his career on a few occasions. I frankly don’t think Torealba has done anything to justify being compared to Lo Duca. OK, his team just won the NL pennant, but I dunno if he should get too much credit (just a little).
Boy the mets really dissed Lo Duca not even making an offer to him and basically bashing him in the media by making it very clear they have no interest in him….and now we have to listen to how torrealba is as good or better than Lo Duca…Omar sucks……..
thats the fault of LoDucas agent… not the mets…
the mets have the right to not sign sombody… I havnt heard one bad thing said about him from mets camp.
They should make him an offer for his feelings? Why… so he can accept and then Omar is stuck with the catcher he doesnt want?
this is a business. LoDuca needs to stop being a drama queen
no. its the fault of loduca. he just isnt that good.
Sounds like a good plan. Castro was behind the plate when the only 2 gems were pitched by the Mets down the stretch — by Maine and Ollie. I also question Lo Duca’s game calling. Maybe he gets too distracted by external matters and he lets it effect him while the game is on. He does seem to carry a chip on his shoulder a lot.
However. I still can’t believe that 3/$15M amount. Maybe it was incorrect. If it’s more like 3/$9M then that makes more sense.
we agree on something.. i was just gonna write that.. the 3/15 doesnt sound right.
Wow! Are you two guys going to hold hands and sing “Koombiyah” now? :-)
“Cats and dogs living together!”
For the record, 3/9 sounds about right…
Not if Biggie still insists A-Rod is worth $30 million!
:smile:
LOL
and they’re both right handed so willie cant screw it up//
Split it 50/50 // there will be a molina out of work if one of our two goes down..and DiFelice wasnt that horrible in short spurts… once we relied on him he spit the bit..
Torrealba as a back up is more pallatable. It also leaves open the idea of getting a younger guy as part of another trade to work into the mix.
maybe someone that can start at AAA, and replace Castro when he hits the DL?
Giving both of them plenty of work makes sense.
If Castro wants more money, ask for it, or find another team. Torrealba will take the extra millions to be a part timer for that reason.
Lets see, FT for 3/9, or PT for 3/15? besides, with Castro’s health issues, it’s practically like being a FT starter anyway.
I understand the draw to Lo Duca, but frankly, he’s not getting any better, nor is he leveling off, he’s getting worse. At least with Torreabla, he’s either leveled, or getting a bit better, and if he go with him and Castro, thats really not a bad option. The problem with Lo Duca, besides his declining all around skills, is that while he does have fire, and moxy, and speaks up, and talks to the media, he opens his mouth in bad ways sometimes. Him questioning Willie down the stretch about his playing time was out of line and as Matt has said ad nauseum, while its nice he’s truthful and all, him being so negative at the end of the year, he was being too truthful. You want a guy who’ll express how he feels, but not to the point where he’s digging into his team. Also, him getting thrown out of games got old. Fire and that stuff only gets you so far, you need a player to stay on the field for any of that to matter.
This will be one dead team on the field next year….no leaders and no fire only bored, lazy players…..
really? really? david wirght, jose reyes, carlos beltran, moises alou, carlos delgado, these guys are going to play any different without lo duca on the team? seriously?
Listen Dynamo, this team was dead down the stretch. Reyes went into a funk, Delgado was bired, Beltran is always quiet, moises has a good bat but he is also a quiet guy and d wright had his moments throwing the ball away etc…Lo Duca also sucked at times but all I am saying is that you need some players who show emotion on the field. Add in willie (I only go for the win 2 games out of each series so I can play my utility guys and AAA guys) and you have one dead personality team on the field…When the team collapsed, this team looked like corpses on the field with no emotion. I don’t think it is healthy to have all laid back, quiet players. You need a mix of guys who show some emotion, especially when the team is losing…
you want a player that shows emotion — re-sign luis castillo. loduca’s act got WAY too old.
Well said Bosco…I too think this will be a very emotionless team next year without Paul. You’re all knocking Paul that his act got tired. But I actually liked his fire. I thought Reyes had that too, but he for sure showed why he will never be a leader last year. Sad to say, but he crawled in to a hole and sulked when they needed him most last season.
But lets be honest here. There aren’t many good catchers out there. If they inked Posada, ok. But after he re-signed, Loduca has to come back.
This is a bad move period. By midseason Castro will be on the shelf with his bad back and Torrealba will be starting for this team. Listen to that…Yorvit Torrealba. And his .215 BA! And Difelice will be 2nd string. UGH…. Might as well bring Mackey Sasser out of retirement.
I don’t know about you guys, but I know I would much rather have Loduca up bottom ninth with a man on second and two outs.
I can see it now. By June, half the city will be calling WFAN or writing on metsblog.com that we should have re-signed Loduca. That the team is lifeless and nobody will step forward on the field as a leader. You sure know Willie won’t. Not Beltran, Delgado, or Reyes. Maybe Alou, but he will be hurt half the season again. If anyone does, David Wright does.
Loduca will be missed more than you know. He cared, wanted to win, and always gave 100% out there. We’re not guaranteed any of that with Torrealba.
At least you know Paul can handle the pressure of playing in New York.
Paul is the smart choice and the safest choice here.
What act of his got old? That he actually got thrown out of a couple of games. So what. He’s smart enough not to get thrown out in the playoffs when it counts.
And he speaks his mind and tells the truth. The truth may hurt sometimes…so be it. So he actually has some integrity and doesn’t hide inside his locker when the media comes trolling by.
If you wanna talk about an act getting old, then how about we talk about Willie not defending his players on the field. The way he does not argue bad calls. Did he even get thrown out of a game last season? Maybe one or two.
Mets will regret this move as will the fans!
hey, maybe we should sign David Eckstein to re-up our grittyness factor. Or just insert whichever white american born baseball player with “grit” you so choose. Boredom and laziness has nothing to do with this, only your perceptions…open your eyes.
Eckstein would be a great addition to this team. I don’t really care what your opinion is…
Getting Eckstein to play second base would be very good signing.
Another good signing would be Aaron Rowand. He could play center and Beltran could rest his troublesome legs in RF.
Eckstein and Rowand would add hustle and grit to a team that is sorely lacking in both.
And….they wouldn’t cost us any young players…..just money.
All our younger “prospects” are undervalued right now because of their unimpressive starts.
Wright had passion…Alou had passion…Castillo for the time he was here, had passion…
Some guys aren’t outwardly rah-rah.
Doesn’t mean they don’t want to win.
The deal is rumored to be 2 years, 10 million. This 3 year, 15 million talk is taken way out of context.
2/$10M for Torrealba is still too high. That’s still the same average annual salary as 3/$15M. I don’t see much of a difference.
And if Castro is getting equal playing time, how can he only get 2/$4M?
Because Torrealba just caught over 100 games and was the starting catcher for the NL representative in the World Series. I think we can all agree that if Castro can stay on the field he will produce more offensively, he just hasn’t proven durable enough to merit that kind of a deal.
That’s why Torrealba could potentially get more money. He is *slightly* more proven than Castro.
He will be paid more than 100% more. Either they plan to make Torrealba the primary catcher, or the numbers are wrong.
Could Torre-alba be used in a trade with another team? Maybe thats the reason?
Not if he signs a multi-year deal. He wouldn’t be eligible to be traded until sometime in June, and then he would have the right to ask for free agency at the end of the year which would negate some of his value.
2 years, $10 million is what is being reported for Torreabla on Mets.com. I doubt it will reach 3 years $15 million.
If this team was smart they wouldn’t promise the starting role or more games for either catcher. Let them earn it. A little competition never hurt anyone.
This doesn’t mean offense only. Let the pitchers play a part in it. If they like one guy, let him be there catcher. If Maine wants to throw to Castro and Pedro to Torreabla, let it be. Less work for each catcher and lets them form a closer relationship with their starters.
Not my #1 option, but given the options out there it works for me.
Even 2 yrs $10M is way too much.
Omar, do you always have too look only at the most obvious answers? Could you get creative for a change?
I don’t know the actual stats but I think the Mets had a better winning % when DiFelice was the everyday catcher while LoDuca was hurt than they did when LoDuca came back. LoDuca calls a lousy game. Yorvit is better than DiFelice and his throwing out runners % was great until this past season, presumably b/c of his sore shoulder. I like how Yorvit called a game during the Rockies magical run. He even got something outta Josh Fogg, which is amazing to me.
Let’s see how fans like Torrealba after he bats .170 next year and he makes negative comments about his pitchers which was reported during the post season…
Where is this report?
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We want Lo Duca back.
Metsdude 13 makes a good point about internal competition. There’s nothing better to motivate players than some friendly competition for playing time.
The numbers seem a little high to me for Torrealba, but perhaps that what it will take to get him to commit to a part/time role.
If he handles young pitchers well, maybe he can do something with Pelfrey, Ollie, and Maine.
If this rumor turns out to be true, do you give Pedro and El Duque to castro and the young guys to Torrealba? I wonder if Willie breaks them up like this.
We have seen how catchers in their mid 30’s break down; see Mike Piazza. I am glad the Mets didn’t fall into the trap with Jorge Posada, and I think LoDuca served his purpose, and it is time to move on. In 2006 he was a great asset, amid all the Page 6 tabloid nonsense. That being said, I think in 2007 he was a detriment to the team, and that, along with his age, it serves the Mets best to move on.
The idea of a dual catching combo might do well. Last year Castro did well, but his defense did deteriorate. I hope he bounces back better in ‘08. The Mets pitching staff, with Maine, possibly Pelfrey or Humber, and Perez – is rather young, and if Torrealba is as good as the people in Denver think, he might be a huge help to a young developing pitching staff.
Then again, Rosenthal has said LoDuca is practically signed, practically out the door, practically signed…
ANY PERSON WITH THE NAME TORRE IS NOT GOOD AND SHOULD NOT BE TALKED ABOUT AMONGST METS FANS
ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE AN INTERSTING TWO HEADED MONSTER NICKNAMED………..
YORMON TORREASTRO