Jon Heyman of SI.com believes the Mets might try to trade Luis Castillo this winter and take a look at Orlando Hudson.
However, Heyman asks, “When have we heard this before?”
…from what i recall, hudson wanted to be on the Mets or Yankees last season, and waited quite a while to see if one of the two teams would create a spot for him… instead, the Mets stuck with castillo, though they did consider ways to bring hudson in the fold…
…frankly, castillo’s defense is overrated i feel… it looks like he has concrete in his cleats at times… i admire him returning to hit over .300, but, the batting average, being healthy, and now earning just $12 million the next two years, is why this off season is the exact time to move him…
…the thing is, any team with a hole at second is more likely to spend less on hudson, who will be a free agent… so, the Mets would probably need to move for another team’s headache, such as a relief pitcher with a bloated contract… this is not the ideal situation, but it opens a spot and would bring in an arm who, for all we know, could be revitalized…
…in the end, hudson fits in better with what the Mets should be trying to do, in terms of his specific talent and leadership… we are going to hear his name in the rumor mill a lot this winter…
{ 21 comments }
last season this was a main concern, this season it ranks as about 10th….Orlando Hudson is not Chase Utley and Castillo is 6th in the league in hitting.
Not even talking about the changes in management/coaching this team should make, #2 starter, power bat for first or left, and a back end of the bullpen guy are all more important than trading Castillo and signing Hudson
if you trade Castillo your trading the $6 million a year he is owed and you could go ahead and give Orlando Hudson the same or less. A move like that wouldn’t change the Mets plan to acquire a left fielder, pitcher, or first baseman because the move would basically be a wash…
And I dont care if Castillo is 6th in the league in hitting. The guy doesnt get any extra base hits and his little bleeders to the outfield fall because of how big the outfield is which is why his batting average is so high. Go look at Hudson’s extra base hits compared to Castillos and tell me he woudnt be a major upgrade at 2nd base. Not to mention Hudson is better defensively and quicker. I know your saying that the Mets have greater concerns but if the move is basically going to be a wash you gotta do it! Granted the team you trade Castillo too doesnt want the Mets to pick up his salary.
I agree, but if the opportunity arises to sell high on him you have to take it bc if he reverts back to 2008 levels it will be a concern. I expect him to be decent next year but not as good as this year and a DL stint in probable as well. As long as moving him does not affect the more import concerns that you stated, then i am all for it.
I’m torn on this. I think Mets fans greatly overrate Hudson. If you look at his numbers this year, they’ve fallen off dramatically since his hot start. Certainly has the power edge over Luis, but their OPS is nearly identical.
I expect Luis to fall off from this year, but I dont think it makes sense to move him. As Matt says, we’d have to take on a bad contract to move him and I’m not sure Hudson is much of an improvement.
i actually agree, in one of the other posts i said holliday and hudson solve alot of the offensive problems…but i didnt realize until another reader pointed out just how….average hes been since like may…like he was making the mets look silly in april and may for not signing him for dirt cheap….but castillo actually isnt that far off….now id still take hudson over castillo….but its not as big a diff as people, and myself earlier were making it
i should also add though that the mets like him for his attitude…hes kinda like another jeff francoeur…..as holliday would be also….can never have too many of those types of players/attitudes…
Right. I still think he will hit around .290-.300 with about 10 HR and 50 RBI, while playing GG defense. All Castillo has on him is a couple of points in BA. Woopdy doo.
But he’s not at the top of our list, for sure. I’d put them in this order:
1. Medical Staff
2. Lackey
3. Crawford (I can hope, can’t I?)
4. Hudson
Call it an offseason!
Does anybody know Hudson’s defense ratings this year? As I recall last year he was sub-par. Most number guys will tell you that OBP is the more important part of OPS, so Hudson may not be any kind of upgrade at second at all.
I’d be careful here.
And the reason why Castillos batting average is so high is because he plays 81 games at Citifield and he could hit little BS bleeders into our outfield that wouldnt fall in any other park.
Hudson is a much better all around ball player its not even fair to debate who’s better. I hope the Mets bring the guy in… I’ll take guys with the personalities of Franceour and Hudson any day of the week.
dodger stadium is no CBP it’s a decent evenly played field. Also he gets to play games most of the year in places like Arizona which is a nice sized field for gaps, same with san diego, the new colorado.
Hudson’s defense is over-rated, his bat is over-rated, he’s over-rated. And even being over-rated he’s better then castillo. I think i could bunt the ball harder then castillo. You can’t discredit what Castillo has done this year. In 100 less AB’s he’s got almost as many runs scored, and he’s walked more then he’s k’d. But he also has 20 less doubles and 29 less XBH’s. Castillo has an OBP 50 pts higher, but vice vera Hudson’s SLG5 is 50 pts higher.
Again i’d rather Hudson, as even if he’s over-rated, he’s still a better all around player then castillo.
so u agree with me
Oh, btw thedude, please don’t use the word “torn” on here! Not after this season, lol…
I’ll take Hudson any day. He’s an improvement almost everywhere. He plays better defense, he hits for more power, hits for about the same average, and he’s a great clubhouse guy. I mean we know we’re not getting Chase Utley or Dustin Pedroia, but he’s certainly an upgrade. Plus, he’s much younger in terms of baseball years. He may only be 2 1/2 years younger than Castillo, but he has played in half the number of games Luis has. Luis is going to taper off…Hudson is in his “prime” for the next two years or so. Get him while he’s hot, and let Havens keep working on hitting for average in the minors.
110% agree.
If they have a chance to sell high on Luis, do it. I still want him gone, regardless of his OBP this year (and no, I don’t bank on him doing this again next year).
But, I am not high on Hudson. If he is getting 3 years at more money than Luis, it will be a biggeralbatross contract.
1st move luis. You can always work out the replacement down the line.
It’s a double-edged sword, though. I agree, I want to sell high on Castillo before he has another injury-plagued season next year.
If we wait to trade Castillo before signing Hudson, we have the upper hand in contract negotiations with Hudson. However, then we have two 2B and will not have the advantage when negotiating trades with other teams because they know we are trying to get rid of him.
Pick your poison.
Polanco (DET) is FA after the season. What about Castillo for Bonderman’s $12.5mm 2010 salary? Bonderman can only work relief for now, and that’s a big salary to carry in a bullpen for DET. Maybe they would also get a PTBNL off a pre-selected list if he pitches more than 100 innings in 2010? If he gets back to being a solid starter, it’s a good trade; if not, he’s gone. (DET would offer Dontrelle, but I don’t think so…)
Or, for a really crazy trade: if Manny exercises his option for 2010, offer Castillo to LAD for Manny + money.
Otherwise, I can’t see teams like SFG or MIL taking Castillo’s contract, and nobody else seems to be losing a good 2B this winter.
If that’s sarcasm, well done.
If you’re serious, I think you’re the first (and last) person to ever suggest a Castillo for Manny + money trade!
lol…
As you may be able to tell by the handle, I live in LA. Manny has become a huge albatross around the Dodgers’ neck. They played better without him, and the fan love isn’t there ever since he came back from his suspension as a shadow of himself.
If I’m the Dodgers, and I had to choose how to use $20mm next year — $6mm for Castillo and $14 for Holliday/Bay, or $20mm for Manny and his attitude (plus another $2mm for a defender to play LF in the late innings), I’d dump him fast.
And, FWIW, Omar may be the only GM in baseball willing to play high-risk poker to get him.
I’d rather have Holliday then Manny for a rental year also.
Holliday would be the Mets next Beltran, and would fill what was a major need for the last 4 years for sure and the last decade. And he would do it for 5-6 years and not one.
I liked the idea about Bondo. That would eat into the money you can spend in the offseason, but i still think you could acquire a top bat and a top SP, he’d be the #4 or #5 they would need to add depth, but at 6 million it would be pricy.
What you need to actually do is look for a big time reliever who had a bad season due to injury or a guy who’s approaching arbitration who’s going to be too much. Not sure what’s out there. Look on Cot’s site, octavio dotel is about 5 million, but he stinks. Maybe george sherril but they have a stud 2nd baseman. So idk what to be looking at.
If the Tigers want to re-sign Washburn they might need the cash freed up, but they have a slew of young inexpensive pitchers to ride out the Bonderman, Willis, Guillen, Ordonez contracts.
Not sure how Bonderman fits into the Mets payroll though. He’ll be making #2 starter-ish money to be a long man…
On the other hand if they trade Castillo, Polanco becomes a reasonable fall back plan when Hudson wants twice what he is worth.
Comments on this entry are closed.