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According to the Daily News and Newsday, Ramon Castro is ‘close to’ and ‘wrapped up’ a two-year, $4 million deal with the Mets yesterday.
Castro, as quoted by Rubin, regarding his return to the Mets, and the potential of spliltting time with Yorvit Torrealba…
“Between me and him, I think we’re going to do good…I’ve been there for three years. We have a great bunch of guys. I love it.”
…Update…8:45 AM…
The Rocky Mountain News reports that the deal is done, pending a physical.
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good move. @ least castro wants to play here
well, if these numbers are right and the mets sign torrealba to a 3yr/$15m deal as was reported by Ben Shpigel of the NY Times, then:
we have to take it as the mets thinking that torrealba is the starter and castro is the backup.
what i can’t understand is why castro would accept that unless he knows in his heart (and other teams have told him) he can’t be anything else but a backup. i wonder what castro thinks of all this.
I like Castro a lot, but even with this crazy FA market, you have to think his back and knee problems have to weigh heavy in team’s minds and coming back to Mets for less money may be his only option. Yorvit, if nothing else, has proven he can be durable over the course of an entire season, even if Castro is offensively the superior player. I’m not ga-ga for this move, but as I said the other day, if we have a black hole in the catcher slot, I would rather that player be a younger, better defensive player than Lo Duca. $5 million may seem high, but the market is the market and I’m guessing the Mets were going to have to overpay to lure Torrealba away from Colorado. Besides, it’s still either equal or less annually then what they would have paid Lo Duca and I’ve seen no indicator from Minaya or the FO that paying $5M for a catcher is going to preclude them from spending on bigger-name players.
how many times was he on the DL last year? Look at him. He has a BAAAAAD body. And he is only getting older. he has contributed to the team, no doubt. but anything more than a one year contract (if that) with a guy who has an arthritic back is , well, omaric
Bad body and all he hit like 10 hrs in 150 at bats last year. He can hit and when he does it is usally with power. As a backup..you can’t do much better in my opinion. Plus…regardless of who gets more money i think Castro sees more games than in the past assuming his body allows it
yes, but let’s not forget the whole issue with pinch hitting with a backup catcher, i.e. you can’t! how many times last year did castro’s power bat sit on the bench because you can’t pinch hit with the backup catcher?
Maybe Castro believes that he owes the Mets a bit, after they took a chance on him when no one else would.
Good signing bringing Castro back. He is a good back up, and hopefully we will get himself in good shape in the off season so he won’t break down as much. As far as Torrealba, I don’t get it. Changing catchers for the sake of a different face behind the plate doesn’t make any sense. The more productive available catcher is Loduca. If this is a prelude to what the mets are doing this off season, I’ll be doing a lot of yard work next summer.
The Torrealba deal, as much as it has been disparaged on these pages – comes down to this:
Omar doesn’t want to use any of his chips to trade for a catcher -w chih I agree with. Outside of Russell Martin, there isn’t anyone out there that warrants giving up our younger players for. So where does that leave us? Here are the other names available – Kendall,
Barrett, Molina – seriously? no thanks. All of these guys have declining numbers (or no numbers at all) and no pop whatsoever. Torrealba, although limited with the bat, has been progressing and has his best years coming. Yes its all relative and yes we don’t need to have major production from the catcher spot.
This makes sense in that it allows Omar to fill a position without getting rid of any of his chips – saving them to make a deal for pitching. Relax people – this does make sense.
So where does that leave us?
It leaves us with simply re-signing Loduca, who is proven, wants to be here and is the best available. And he provides leadership, something the Mets sorely lack.
It’s very simple. I have to believe if all this comes to fruition and is a sign of things to come this offseason, we will all be raking leaves come October again.
I’m just hoping (and assuming) that Minaya knows more about Torrealba than we do. It sounds as if there are some intangibles that have been mentioned, which might help to make him a good fit.
I like the Castro re-signing a lot. He has become a much better hitter, especially in the clutch. And from all accounts that I’ve read, he’s one of the most well liked members of the clubhouse.
I am a bit conflicted here, as I do like LoDuca quite a bit. He’s a gritty player, who doesn’t seem to mind getting in anyone’s face, or talking honestly with the media, ala Cliff Floyd. I really wouldn’t mind having him back for two more years. It’s not like he has to follow Piazza’s production. Maybe the Mets are thinking that Pena is farther away from the majors than they thought.
I also think that Minaya really dropped the ball when he let the Nats snag Jesus Flores. All of this discussion might’ve been moot in Flores was still in the system. He certainly showed some major league chops last year.
The jury is still out on Flores but yeah it woul dbe nice to have a homegrown prospect. I liked LoDuca as well but he is 36 years old, banged up with his best years behind him. Theres also probably some clubhouse issues with him that we don;t know about. I say its time to move on.
I’m gonna jump on the C from the independant league bandwagon.
He is our future. let’s get him up now.
Of course, I do heave to figure out his name at some point!
Another reason to love Castro. He could’ve made a lot more money elsewhere