eMailbag: Estrada or Castro
Jimmy P from Brooklyn sent in an e-mail asking…
“Now that Johnny Estrada is here, who will play more? Him or Ramon Castro?”
…well, i still believe the Mets will try to trade for C Ramon Hernandez, among others, and i will not rule out Paul Lo Duca until i see him sign with another team…so, if a new catcher is acquired, which is still a possibility, estrada may not even actually factor in to any on-field decisions…
…that being said, if estrada sticks, come opening day, my hunch is that Willie Randolph will simply continue to play the hot hand…despite their praises, the Mets clearly do not trust castro as a full-season, every-day catcher…however, if willie starts castro on opening day, and he stays hot, keeps playing well, and never relinquishes the job, well, so be it and good for castro…on the other hand, i would not surprised to see it go the other way…
…realistically, though, i suspect we’ll see castro for a few days, then estrada for a day or so, and it’ll go back and forth all season, or until one of the two establishes himself to be the man…
