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Update, 12:41 pm:
Luis Castillo met with reporters at Tradition Field a few moments ago.
Castillo told reporters he contacted the Mets following last season to say he felt badly about his 2008 performance and that he was embarrassed.
He said he knows he can do better in 2009.
Castillo also said he is aware he must get off to a good start.
He said his knees are no longer bothering him, and he has since lost 17 pounds since last season, he trained hard in the off season, going nearly five hours every day, and now feels like he is a ‘new man.’
By the way, Jose Valentin told reporters that if things do not work out for him with the Mets this spring, he will consider coaching, and look to one day manage in the big leagues.
Update, 11:52 am:
Jose Reyes met with the media today, and said he was surprised to learn he might bat third, but said he will do whatever Jerry Manuel asks of him.
Asked to respond to Cole Hamels’s choke artist comment, Reyes stopped the question and asked why the Phillies are so obsessed with the Mets, seeing as they won the World Series.
Original Post, 11:19 am:
SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt sent in a text message from Tradition Field saying players are taking physicals today.
According to Burkhardt, Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo will speak to reporters later this afternoon.
Lastly, Burkhardt writes, “Angel pagan is a freak… He wins like every event including a 39–inch vertical… Although he is better from the left side, I think his right-handed bat is going to be a factor in making the team.”
Tonight on SNY, Burkhardt will have a one-on-one interview with David Wright, as well as clips from the day in camp.
Also, Burkhardt will be hosting SNY’s Mets Hot Stove at 7 pm LIVE from Duffy’s in St. Lucie on Thursday.
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yay, first to comment…
I know the education system is poor in Philadelphia, but “beerleaguer” is not spelled “m-e-t-s-b-l-o-g”.
i like this comment.
How sad.
The last piece of Shea just came down.
Good for Pagan….I hope he shows the abililty to make the team.
In the previous article, it states that Stokes would have to clear waivers if he didn’t make the 25-man. Does anyone have a clue about the options of the the rest of the players at ST?? I’m trying to put a best guess to the opening day roster. Thanks.
to the best of my research only the following position players on the 40 man roster have options:
Evans, Pagan, Reed, Cancel. (and Murphy)
while the following pitchers still have options:
Niese, Parnell, Kunz, Muniz, and Connor Robertson. (and Maine, Pelfrey, and Sean Green)
Rocky Cherry and Darren O’Day both have options remaining, but as Rule 5 picks have to stay on the roster this year.
Stokes, and Brandon Knight are the guys most in limbo as they are out of options, and seem to only be in the mix for the last spot in the pen.
To me there are 13 position players with little room for anyone else to make the team. Also 10 pitchers seem to be locks, leaving two spots for two relievers, or Garcia and one reliever.
I like Angel, but he needs better than a lifetime .226 average as a righty to make the team! Maybe he’s improved himself though?
Pagan is sort of a John Kruk (”I’m not an athlete, I’m a ballplayer.”) in reverse.
Here’s the question, if it’s not Pagan who is it going to be?
Unless they go with my idea of platooning Evans and Murphy and Tatis becoming the RH bat, we don’t have one. Thus by default doesn’t Pagan stand a better chance?
The only other option I see is again carrying 3 catchers, but even when we did that the team still did not use Castro as a PH.
The bench seems 99% set to me. Tatis will be the righty bat on the bench more often than he is in LF, so its not as big a need.
Castro, Cora, Tatis, Sullivan, and Anderson. Thats a full 13 position players, none of these bench guys have options. That may not be the bench on May 15th, but out of ST I see no reason to go with anything else. Why get rid of someone when you don’t have to?
I know this is the Metsblog and not the Knicksblog, but speaking of athletic freaks, I *still* have to comment about Nate Robinson. Now THAT is a freak of an athlete! The things he did last night against the Spurs last night…yikes.
Okay, sorry for the off-topic…
mr.gee21- Freak athletes are more important to have in hoops than on the diamond. A 39 inch vertical means nothing if he cannot hit consistently and hit with some power.
He is a backup OF, he does not need to hit with power. And actually, athletisim on the bench is a good thing.
Endy was a freak catching that HR… I think Omar should bring him back if he’s released
has there been some news he may be released?
no u dopes he was traded to seattle as part of the JJ putz trade, along with joe smith and aaron heilman. in exchange the mets got Putz and Jeff Reed, a decent but not starter-worthy OF. heilman was later dealt to the cubs. reed/pagan will likely battle for the role chavez had last season in Spring Training.
o wait did you guys mean if he’s released from seattle? o well in that case i guess, he was a great OF, but he couldn’t bat worth a damn and pagan is better i think.
For Castillo’s sake, I hope he is in amazing shape.
Well, it’s only been a few minutes but so far Luis is saying and doing the right things.
I’m absolutely rooting for Castillo this year. As long as he keeps up this positive outlook, he should be fine. I think he gets an excessive amount of flack; you gotta give this guy a second chance.
I agree. I said in a previous thread that I’m willing to give Luis a “lost year” for last season. Losing 17 lbs and admitting he was embaras-sed are steps in the right direction in my opinion.
The question remains as to how much of his dreadful performance last year was due to chronic physical health problems. It’s not a question of giving him a second chance. His deteriorating physical problems may limit his ability to play at a sustained high level. If that is indeed the case it is unfair for people to boo him.
i see a good season coming from luis…a year removed from surgery on both his knees…hes in good shape…
hopefully he gets off to s quick start on the road and not a rocky start coming into citi…i want to see him do well..he can really help this team if he is himself…and who knows maybe he was pressing a lot last year..
As Met fans, if he is off to a slow start, maybe we shouldnt be quick to boo his brains out when he arrives at citi.
I really do hope Pagan makes it. He brought lots of excitement to the game, plus he’s pretty versatile.
i dont care about pagan…he was a good role player for us last year…if he makes it or not im not going to be crushed
Heck Yes, I’m a Castillo Doubter, but every real Mets fan wants to see him succeed as a Met!
wow..reyes is right…glad someone finally said it
Love the Reyes comment.
Does anyone know if there is any truth of a possible trade that would involve Castro to the Yankees and Swisher in return?
My friend was telling me he heard this yesterday. Personally I would love it. Trade Castro and sign Pudge so we would get better at catcher, as well as having Swisher who is can play 1st or any OF spot. Next year when Delgado is a free agent unless we bring him back, Swisher is better than any of the other free agent 1st baseman next year
Problem with that is i think Swisher is due ALOT more than Castro. Unless the yankeees eat some of swishers contract, i cant see that happening
Castro is about 1/2.8 mill. Swisher is 3/~22.5 IIRC (so about 7.5 mill/year)
Adds a bit to the payroll (at least 4 million, depending on who the bench guy is that Swisher replaces). But overall probably makes them a better team.
So of course, no chance that it happens!
I would think that if there is any truth to this rumor than the Yankees will eat part of his contract. Swisher is due 21 million over the next 3 years(7 million per) and I think Castro is making 4.6 million per season and is a free agent after this year. If the Yankees would eat even 6 million of his deal(2 mill each season) than I think Omar would do it and it would be a really good deal.
Personally I would like to see them eat the 7 million for this year and the Mets have to pay the rest of the next two years. That would open up 4.6 million owed to Castro and get the bat we need off the bench, with plenty of money to sign Pudge.
But that would be living in a perfect world and as a Mets fan we know things are never that easy.
Castro is owed 2.5 not 4.6, not sure where that is coming from. Also, why not trade Castro for a prospect, sign Pudge and just go with what we have.
Delgado will be a much better option at 1B next year than Swisher. He’s just not a good hitter.
Does it? .219, .332? I would rather have Evans as the platoon guy and Tatis on the bench.
Her’s my question to that. Are the Yankee’s picking up a ton of Swisher’s salary? He is due 22 million over the next 3 years. That’s a lot of money for those stats. The guy really is a terrible hitter. Career .244 with a .354 OBP both of which he was way under last year. If the Mets were going to pay that much for an OF then they would have signed Abreu.
I have no idea if the rumor is even true. I got the rumor from a friend of mine so this can be a bunch of bull that we never even talked about between the Mets and Roidees. I hope it is true as long as the yanks eat a bunch of Swishers contract.
I said in my last post that if they eat 2 million per season thats fine with me. He can play 1st next year and paying a 1st baseman less than 6 million per is nothing.
If Murphy can’t play 1B next year then I would much rather resign Delgado. He won’t cost much more if any and I am willing to bet will still put up much better numbers. Delgado’s worst season would never be as bad as Swisher was last year.
I highly doubt that the Yankees would trade Swiher for Castro even up, let alone pay most of his salary! The Yankees are more likely to trade Nady than Swisher mostly due to the fact that they control Swish for 3 yrs vs Nady for one. And you can bet the Yankees are going want alot more for Swish than a back-up catcher has had some problems staying on the field, Don’t get me wrong I like Castro, but I think with Cancel in the fold it is time that we see what we can get for him. Now to me if I’m the Yankees I would take Castro and a prospect for Nady, which I think would be a good deal for both clubs, but I’m sure the Mets would want to sign Nady long term as part of the trade. Otherwise it makes more sense to wait for the offseason to get Nady.
You go Jose!
And I hope Luis has a good year. Improved, at least. I think he might do it. 17 pounds off is a good sign.
A good start for Luis. If he gets in line with the fans and esentially boos himself, he has a chance for redemption.
The weight lose and being in much better shape (although they all say that) shuold help too.
A fast start however is really important for him.
Oh, and that picture up top reminds me of how bad his swing is. He should just stop the SH nonsense, and go with RH only (his “good” side, right?)
more power from the right side but better average from the left, i think.
Support Our Second Baseman!
Castillo, YES HE CAN!!
I think the reporters started booing before he answered his first question just so he would get used to opening day
Can’t wait to get my Castillo jersey
Take the test to see if you are a true Castillo fan:
How did CASTILLO loss 17 pounds????
A.Someone rolls his meals to him and he couldn’t pick them up.
B. Everything he ate he slow rolled to SS.
C.He cut off his head…..