Comments on: Buzz: Mets intend to Shop Luis Castillo

By: JerryKoosman

JerryKoosman — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:00:33 +0000

Just my two cents, I don’t think Los Mets will find takers for Crapstillo, at ANY price.

That said, he’d be a great veteran backup and good pinch-slappy hitter off the bench. Expensive? You bet. He’d be a good platoon with Murphy at 2B as the kid gets acclimated to 2B.

The Mets made this contract, no one else will bail them out of it, they will have to make the best of it at least another year.

One more thing on Crapstillo: bat him 9th in the lineup. LaRussa has done this a lot this year with Izturis in St Louis. He won’t bat as often, he will occasionally get on base as a table setter for the top of the lineup.

Regarding LF. Do they get another lucky year from Tatis and shift him to LF? With Endy and Angel Pagan (and Evans) they should be OK with a revolving door there.

Then clean up that lousy bullpen! I honestly think if Los Mets can stop having so many platoon players they could actually carry more bullpen arms. If they could find a way to stop having everyone warming up in the 5th inning every day, they may actually have some gas left in the tank at this time of year.

Again, just my two cents. Life in Minnesota is good! And I still can’t believe you traded me for Jesse Orosco!

Jerry

By: whatdatmean

whatdatmean — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:47:19 +0000

And YES….totally confident with allowing both Murphy and Tatis to be the 2 answers at 2b, despite limited exposure…
reason: high rewards with little risk…can always start A Reyes at 2b for defensive purposes as the lineup we have can hide his bat…which does still have upside.

I want to see a youth movement on the roster…I think we need to live and die by these guys, especially because we chose to stick with them versus making a big trade over the summer.

Not sure what the scouts that were ripping the farm system were looking at….we have more “Now” rookies than…hmmm…the Yankees! but atleast they got…hmmm…nevermind…we got the JOHAN

lovin this right now

Lets GO METS!!!!

By: whatdatmean

whatdatmean — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:41:28 +0000

I hate to talk about offseason when we are in a playoff hunt, but…
If im Omar…
1. trade castillo[paying most of his salary] and heilman…probably having to eat close to half of castillo’s salary and settling for some mid-level prospects, a bad contract, or a bench guy in return
spots that make sense[need a leadoff hitter/2b upgrade and #5/RP]-cubs, rox, pitts, marlins, nats, YANKEES[cano could be traded elsewhere], indians, Dbacks[no more o-dawg]
…while were at it…send show and chavez packing
2. Exercise delgado’s option and beg Tatis for atleast 1 more year
3. murphy learns 2B better, worth with A. Reyes at SS[new Ahern], work with Tatis at 2B[has experience and is an IF]
4.Resign Ollie…if not, settle for Lowe or Garland[steady, 3/4 type]
5.Overhaul the BP[no more show, feliciano, heilman, etc]
leaving ’09 as…
reyes-ss
murphy-2b
wright-3b
delgado-1b
beltran-cf
church-rf
evans-lf
schneid-C
bench: a reyes[2b/ss], tatis[1b,2b,3b,OF], casto[c], pagan[of], +1 more NEW guy
SP: santana, pelf, maine, niese, and 1 of Ollie/lowe/garland
BP: Wags, sanchez, smith…maybe burgos, and resign stokes + ayala, and bring in 1 more lefty???

By: LongJohnMaine

LongJohnMaine — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Errors? That’s your argument? Errors, or lack thereof, don’t tell the whole story. 1B, 2B and LF are all positions that the Mets are below average in terms of defense. JJ Hardy’s triple on Monday? Not an error, but a good LF catches that ball. I love what Murphy brings to the table, but he’s not a good LF.

If you employ a pitcher like Garland, you put more of a burden on your defense. He doesn’t miss bats. And while the Mets have played some excellent defense over the past 2 months, I’m not convinced they are an elite defensive team.

By: nyj0126

nyj0126 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:03:56 +0000

Next year’s line up should look like this:

1. Reyes
2. Murphy/Evans/Castillo
3. Wright
4. Delgado/Beltran
5. Beltran/Delgado
6. Church
7. Easley/Murphy/Evans
8. Schneider/Castro

Even though batting Castillo 7th can work, I think it’ll be more likely they bat him 2nd in the line up. When Damion’s in if he comes back, he’ll probably be 7th. There is a chance Tatis can come back too, but with Church healthy it’s unlikely.

If Jose Valentin could play 2B, why can’t Fernando Tatis? He’s versatile. Who’d ever think he can handle the OF as well as he has? They can bring him back to platoon with Castillo instead of Easley if Damion considers retirement.

By: nyj0126

nyj0126 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:56:48 +0000

It’s hard to tell if Daniel Murphy is a 2B because I’ve seen so little of him even in the IF. From what I heard, he made a lot of errors at 3B in the minors. He may not be able to handle 2B. Or he may play it and do below average. It’s obvious he’s not going to be an OF in the future so they’ll have to work something out. Here is how I see it. Fernando Martinez isn’t going to be playing with up until 2010. He might play a little bit during next year, but they’d be better off allowing him to develop. So my guess is that a combination of Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans are your LF next year with Endy Chavez on the bench too along with the possibility of Angel Pagan and Fernando Tatis.

In 2009, what room could there be for Murphy at 2B? You got Castillo, Argenis Reyes and the possibility of Damion Easley coming back. I think they’ll get rid of him by 2010. I’d think they’d bring back at least one of two in Easley and Tatis who’s also capable of playing 2B. I doubt they’ll be able to get rid of Castillo’s contract. The only 2B that’ll probably be on the team by 2010 will be Argenis as a reserve.

So now we’re looking at F-Mart as the starting LF in 2010, with a likely opening at 2B and possibly 1B too. Delgado might not have as good of a year in 09′. He could get hurt. What about an idea of Murphy at 1B? Like he probably will in LF for the reason of this and next year, he could be a platoon with Daniel at 1B in 2010. Than they could look into the FA market for 2B or within their own system once they’re able to get rid of Luis.

By: X-Man

X-Man — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:04:51 +0000

Ceetar, Gina & therealsince86, You guys all make valid points on keeping Castillo at second for the main reason of having a starting second baseman with experience for next season. We get it.

But why are you guys so sure in your mind that he is even capable of staying healthy and playing enough games to even be considered an “everyday” starting second basemen? Even Gary mentioned it the other day that Castillo was “Hobbling” to second. The guy has two shot knees! We need to explore every single option that’s available because we just can’t bank on Castillo being healthy enough to play like the Castillo of “Old” and be an everyday 2nd baseman.

Your arguments make allot sense ONLY IF you are talking about a healthy, productive castillo, not the Gimpy, lack of range player we’ve been observing this whole season. There’s a reason why most posters on here are down on the guy, we’re not picking on him just for the hell of it. I would love nothing better than for him to do a Carlos Delgado act and become the castillo of old but all indications are this guy is washed up.

By: gowrightgo

gowrightgo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:26:21 +0000

You do watch the games right? You know our mets just finished a 35 game stretch with like 4 errors. They are actually amongst the better fielding teams in the game. I agree that strikeouts are nice but really an out is an out in my book.

By: LongJohnMaine

LongJohnMaine — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:08:41 +0000

Ugh, I hate starters like Garland that don’t strike out anybody. Garland would fit on a team like the Jays that have excellent defenders all around the field, something the Mets don’t have.

By: mikey_FF

mikey_FF — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:32:44 +0000

OK … Murphy is an infielder playing outfield. It’s an easier transition.

He never was an outfielder … always an infielder. He knows how to play the infield.

You proved my point.

P.S. Castillo: Let it goooooooooooooo