According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, “The Mets are again expressing a willingness to trade 2B Luis Castillo.”
…it’s weird, for all the moaning and groaning i did about castillo last off season, he is hardly the team’s biggest problem right now… though, if money is an issue, he is an obstruction in the sense that he’s hogging resources, i suppose…
Rosenthal believes the Mets have contacted the Rockies, “who are not satisfied with utility man Melvin Mora as their backup second baseman.”
He wonders if the Mets are motivated to move Castillo, so they can use Daniel Murphy at second base when he returns from the disabled list.
… castillo hasn’t done much to help the team, but he also hasn’t done much to hurt them… it’s like, he’s just there… he’s a living, breathing person at second base, only capable of hitting singles and making the routine play… which is not a bad thing, but it’s far from a good thing… the thing is, i have no idea if murphy will be any better… though, i wonder if the team is thinking of a murphy-Alex Cora platoon, with murphy also getting work at third base, first base and left field…
I’ll be the first to say it, if Luie goes I’ll miss him.
why? your the only one who would miss luiS
i rather have luis then murphy
if we can get an arm, however mediocre…see ya sweet loui!
so sad that we are at a point, again, that we are discussing louis castillo, rather than how we are gonna take 5 of six from the spanks and phils…
somehow i get the feeling this homestand will determine whether i argue with my wife to have the tv on at 705 to watch every pitch, or decide, whatever, Ill watch greys anatomy and check in on the score
What i would give for an 06′. What the hell has happened and can we really win with this roster? i beg to argue no, however when we win, things seem to roll…….
metsulcer,
Greys’ was the most intense and best episode ever last night. It was well worth it. You won’t be disappointed if you are wtaching it and then get to the mets around 8:40.
Isn’t that a chick show?
yes chase, and thats my point!
That was easily the gayest thing I’ve read today.
lol
Santana, Pelfrey and then ???. And only the Mets could sign a player like Jason Bay and have the guy be on pace to hit 5 home runs!
Barajas is the Mets biggest offensive threat. Unless you believe he is going to carry the Mets to postseason…..i would say the Mets cannot win with this roster.
But who knows, they could surprise me.
Since we have no other real options, we may as well keep him. I would rather explore replacing him at the end of the year when we can pick up a FA replacement who is an upgrade.
Funny the Mets are looking to trade him when he is the least of their problems this year.
they are trying to redirect the attention from failing pen
to mediocre 2b
creating more holes is the mets plan…
unless somehow they are gettin ubaldo for castillo
omar will be gm of the year
If the idea was to get an upgrade at the position, I would be all for it. However, if its just to dump salary, thats an admission the Mets are trying to save all the money they can knowing this season is sunk.
In addition, if we have to pick up 80% of what is owed to him, whats the point of trading him?
Mets always seem to be looking to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. They are an organization that seems to just run around in circles.
It’s probably both…getting more out of 2B and saving some money…and also, unfortunately for Castillo…but him and perez appear to be Omar’s biggest mistakes, so he probably wants to do anything he can to get rid of him…
Its not to ‘dump salary’, the Mets would be getting close to nothing in terms of salary. This is more or less going to be a slight downgrade at 2B MAYBE (theres no telling how he will play for the rest of the season, and god forbid next season) to improve at other positions. If we can get something of any worth, say a backup CF, reliever, and a low level prospect. Then I say do it. This is the one and only time we will be able to move Luis and get anything in return.
Of course we are looking to trade someone who is the least of our problems….People seem to think that other teams are actually interested in our garbage. We can live with Cora at 2nd and Murphy playing utility when he comes back. It is a downgrade, but IF it fills out another need in our lineup take it!
I doubt we will get much for him, or even anything cash wise. But I say we take what we can get, when we can get it.
do you people look at his numbers?? he is awful. Been just as bad, if not worse, than Alex Cora his backup
Luis has been pretty solid. I am more inclined to hold onto him until closer to the deadline, when there may be more of a market for him.
Anyway, why would they do it know when Murph is nowhere near ready?
I understand getting rid of Castillo from a money prospective, or to bring in a better replacement – but I doubt the Rockies are going to take on Castillo’s salary so he can be a backup second baseman for them. And we don’t even have a replacement for him.
If the idea is we get stuck eating Castillo’s contract and have to see cora/murphy play 2b the rest of this year, no thanks.
The reason people think Castillo has been solid is because the expectations on him are so low…I mean hes hitting .250 with no offensive production at all…hes 36 on fragile legs with declining range…if you can get rid of that and get some production out of 2B…why wouldnt you do it? Thats a way the mets can upgrade the offense without doing something drastic…
bc it looks like we’d have to eat his salary, as I don’t think Colorado is picking it up to have him as a backup. And how much more production, if any, does murphy or cora give you at 2b, besides the fact your defense would take a big hit.
put Murphs #s from last season at 2B…people said he didnt live up to expectations..and he didnt…but 12-15 HRs with 60-75 RBIs with a BA between i’d guess .260 to .275 is alot more productive then castillo..also theres the potential murph can hit closer to .300..if not higher…just based on the fact that he hit over .340 in pretty much every other level…and the first 4 months of his career he was something like .315…
“he hit over .340 in pretty much every other level”?? The most the guy has hit in the minors was .315, and his career minor league avg is .290.. so where are you getting that info?
maybe it went down…but when he was in AA before he was called up…i think it was a couple weeks before he got called up he was hitting like .340…and people were talking about him, evans, and carp and how they were dominating AA pitching..
Nope I’m sorry, at no point was he batting .340, or even close to it. It’s a nice thought though.
Besides that, the guy will be a disaster at 2b, just look at his fielding in the minors.. the guy made 55 errors in 2 seasons. The guy just isn’t a major leaguer period, we need to stop trying re-invent ways to get him on this team.
yeah I can see it, look I blasted Murphy as a 1B, cause I didnt think what he was doing or capable of would be productive enough for the position, but his numbers as a 2B however could be pretty decent. Look Castillo isnt the biggest problem right now, not even close, but he isnt getting younger, his legs are not getting any better, so if they can move him, I say move him.. its not going to make this season get much better but I also dont see it getting worse. I would be a tad nervous about the defensive side although Cora get def play there, if they use the old Murphy starts gets most of the game and then Cora comes in as a defensive replacement.
I really don’t expect much out of Castillo either than to get on base and to hit singles. If he hits around .250 than that’s not good for a singles hitter that’s getting the money that he is right now.
Just when it seems like everything is going wrong Murphy’s name comes up and then you know everything is going wrong.
If the Mets can drop any money even alittle on another team, I bet they’d trade Castillo. Castillo like Matt said, is stuck in the middle. Murphy’s bat would make up for any flaws he has on defense at 2nd base. The only thing I wished though was that in that Castillo trade that the Mets could bring back a pitcher or two to help the team right now. I don’t know what the Rockies have in terms of pitching besides the guys we already know about.
Mets have a problem … All Jason Bay seems to do is hit singles, when they signed him to be a power bat in LF. Bay is still stuck on 1 homerun and that worries me. That to me is a bigger problem than thinking of trading Castillo but if that means trading Castillo for Murphy’s bat, than I’m all for it.
Will Murphy be at least decent at 2nd? Who knows but the Mets need a change somewhere to spark this offense and this team. Next on my wish list of guys that need to go is to find someone to take Maine and Perez off their hands. They are another part of the problem. Mets need to send Mejia down to become a starting pitcher.
The next task is to find a veteran starting pitcher somewhere to put behind Santana and Pelfrey. Mets need a Jason Marquis type of pitcher to put behind Pelf or ahead of him to stabilize their rotation a bit. Someone not great but good enough to give the Mets some innings and at least stand a chance at winning that game.
I’m fine with Takahaski/R.A. dickey fighting for the backend of the rotation. As long as the Mets have that veteran pitching behind Santana Mets will stand a chance.
Trade Murphy for Kevin Millwood.
I was just looking at the Orioles stats, and they could use Murphy at 1B. And Cora at short. Or maybe they´d take Jacobs or Hessman, because they need help at 3B too. Hessman and Murphy for Millwood?
Hessman is 32
Nobody, except for Team Kool-Aide, wants Murphy as their 1Bman.
Don’t underestimate the terribleness of the Orioles.
What about Tejada? He´s hitting .330 in May, and his overall average is up in the .290s. He´s younger than all but 4 of the Savannah SandGnats! And he´s a good defender. At least give him a shot until Murphy plays a few games at 2B in AAA–Murphy should be learning (or re-learning) the position in the minors, not in NY.
I’m not one of the people that have a big problem with Castillo. I think he’s been more scapegoat than serious problem the last two years.
That said, if the Mets can get something of value for him and they know they have options that they’re willing to explore in AAA as a replacement, I don’t see why they wouldn’t make this move, even if it means eating salary. Castillo is certainly not “the guy” going forward. He’ll never get resigned by the Mets, at least not as a starter, and if they want to experiment with one of Murphy, Tejada, or Havens, all backed up by Cora then now is the time to do it, in a year when the team is trying to work through multiple problems at once.
Kinda like changing the manager, I think IF the team knows that a change is going to happen eventually, the sooner they do it the better, because they’ll have more game time THIS year to get things sorted out going into the off season.
If they waited until mid-July to trade him, they’d only have two months to audition the AAA guys at 2B and would most likely go into the off season unsure of what they actually had and whether or not acquiring a 2B was an off season priority. 4+ months of audition time means they’ll be much more certain of whether or not it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.
At this point in time, I’d much rather they focus on the franking rotation and get in a solid pitcher that can go deep into games. 2B is a position that could be upgraded, but there are far bigger needs now.
I just hope we don’t see Murphy there. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. It’s time to move on from the Daniel Murphy Project.
While I understand the desire to dump salary and/or acquire anything for Luis while they can, it seems to me that throwing Murphy in there midseason would be a tacit admission by management that they expect to be contending for nothing this year.
I’ll believe it when I see it…The Mets would need eat some of Luis contract to make that a possibility and they’ve never wanted to do it… everyone always has some proposed trade with Luis in it and he’s still here
Wow, how about the Mets set their sights on trying to acquire what the team truly needs another SP or two?
Castillo doesn’t have that kind of value.
Well that’s easier to do in the offseason then in the middle of the season.
Trading away players on the active roster is easy to do during the year.
With that note… I hope they go heavy into the offseason after Cliff Lee and another SP. Eat the ollie contract and DFA him or trade him for a patch of sod
SYLOW59 must not have signed on yet today. When he does, get ready for an assault of statistics that will prove that Murphy can’t field any position at the major league level…….bring it on Sylow.
Just busting your chops…….
I think he’s right in that regard though.
see below.
I have no prob with Castillo…he is not needed for this team to win and he is never the reason it loses….however under this potential trade…I like it for 2 reasons…
1. Tejeda isnt perceived as someone who can hit on the MLB level so enough with that, he’ll be a nice middle IF backup for a few years somewhere….but not having Castillo means the Mets can trade for or sign a 2B in the offseason…doesnt need to be Hudson like we always think, but there will be some available and hopefully someone younger who can play 100 games a year…
2. If the Mets get back Mora, that means the double play machine Tatis will/should be let go
However, if they are to trade Castillo if they can somehow work a low-level backup OF into the trade that would be great and then GMJ can be released too…which would mean a 3rd team as the Rockies have 5 of’s that are all more valuable than anyone we are willing to trade away
Tejada ¨isn´t perceived as someone who can hit on the MLB level¨… but all he´s done in the minors is hit–despite being very young for every level he´s been at (at AAA he´s younger than all but 4 of the Low-A SandGnats). He´s hitting .330 in May at AAA and has his avg up to .290something. Maybe perceptions will change.
I’ll never figure out the hatred on here towards Murphy. It’s like cause he was involved in a disasterous season and was the young player who was heavily scrutinized with his every move and he didn’t live up to the mets unreal expectations hes useless….but to say you’d want castillo over Murphy is just ignorant and ridiculous…this team has gotten nothing out of castillo and the expectations are so low that when he hits .250 with no run production or runs scored hes been fine…for all the murph bashing if he put up the identical numbers from last season out of the 2 hole this year…mets offense is upgraded quite a bit…his numbers are like Shane Victorino’s minus the SB (i hate victorino, just comparing 2 hitters)…
Agreed. Castillo is useless. People just say “well, he hasn’t been horrible, so that’s acceptable.” Hitting .250 with absolutely zero slugging is basically a Rey Ordonez clone.
he doesnt even give the D ordonez did, so hes like an old Ordonez…
Yep. And Ordonez was OK in 1998-2001 because the offense was full of firepower and clutch hitters (Piazza, Olerud, Ventura, Alfonzo), so it was easy to stick him in the 8th spot and forget about him. With this weak lineup, Castillo is hitting 2nd for pete’s sake, exposing him way more than necessary.
I think Murphy will make a good bench bat. He may be a decent replacement for Tatis once he’s back and healthy.
However, you can’t slot Murphy as a starting 2B if he can’t field the position. Castillo may not be all that good of a fielder, but he makes the routine plays. You don’t cringe every time the ball is hit to him, like everyone did with Murphy in LF last year. Murphy has to be able to at least make the routine plays at 2B with as much range as Castillo. Anything less than that (Castillo’s level of defense), is probably not acceptable (because his overall defense isn’t that good to begin with).
whta stats are needed to prove Muprhy cant play defense? If anything, stats can only prove he’s not really a good hitter either…
I usually disagree with Sylow but if he is a “murphy is extremely overrated” guy than we finally agree on something!!
if?
Brother, welcome to the party.
I been partying on this since October. See below.
I think someone should check on the status of sylow right now…if he isn’t all over this post, then something must be wrong!
The search party begins in 15 min
was in a meeting.
I dont hate Murphy…I just think we as fans Kevin Maas’d/Mike Jacobns’d/Shane Spencer’d himfor a few good weeks he had in 2007.
The guy was never a prospect, he was never supposed to be any good and we all jumped on the bandwagon and now we just need to come back to reality and remember he is not really too good…he is an AAAA player who got hot for a few weeks…
Also Mets fans need to remember that Nick Evans is a AA who got hot for 1 game!!! I’m really sick of reading these boards and see that guys name as a potential for anything…he’s terrible, murphy just isnt as good as he was those 3 weeks
it does seem like they are trying to trade him so they can clear money. Lou has not been terrible this year and definetly is not the biggest problem on this team..
What worries me is that the mets feel like they need to clear his $9 mill remaining to make a move?? I know fans are not coming out to the park but the NY Mets should be able to add payroll regardless of a $6mill a year contract of a 2nd basemen??
There it is again, “Lou has not been terrible”. It’s the wrong attitude to think it is acceptable for a player to simply not be terrible. What about playing good?
Castillo is a slap hitting, make contact, keep it on the ground, rarely strike out type of hitter. The kind of hitter you can use in hit and run situations. Which makes him perfect for the 2 hole in a lineup behind a speedy leadoff hitter who gets on base frequently. The problem is the Mets current leadoff hitter, Jose Reyes, is only getting on base about a quarter of the time and you can’t use that ability to its’ utmost strength.
You also can’t use that ability to its utmost strength if Castillo is hitting .250. He needs to hit much higher for average in order to have any value whatsoever in the #2 hole.
Do this. Murphy has proven he can pick a ground ball at first; as someone who played second base–and the other infield positions–a lot, I can tell you that it is the easiest position to play. You can easily learn how to make the double play turn. The only question in my mind would be Murphy’s range, but I would trade whatever range we are sacrificing to get his bat in the lineup in a spot (middle infield) where his production will look very very nice. Also, for all those thinking that Omar was trying to compile Los Mets a few years back, he is getting close to throwing a whitewash out there.
What are you talking about?
If 2B was an easy position to learn whay are there not more great hitting 2Bmen? And if this is the case then why didn’t the Giants, for example, just shift Cepeda to 2B and play McCovey full time?
Name the great hitting 2Bmen. Now do the same for 1B, 3B, LF, RF, CF. Do you happen to notice anything?
Now we are getting him wound up!!!!!!! WE NEED STATS, WE NEED STATS!!! Drop some wisdom on us Sy
YES OF COURSE! SORRY FOR MY ERROR! YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!
Some of you are taking your Castillo comparisons a bit far…..Castillo is NO where close to Rey Ordonez, who was lucky to have a .300 obp.
Rey Ordonez was an excellent fielder though … and Castillo is a below average one. That’s what bugs me about Castillo. He cannot help you with his bat or glove. At least Ordonez could save runs (well above the average) at his position. Castillo will hurt you in the field and at the plate.
Luis castillo for ubaldo jimenez
Everyone keeps talkin about tejada and dont get me wrong, I like his talent…Hes a young guy whos hitting almost .300 at AAA, has a good glove and has good OBP because he walks and doesnt strike out a lot, but he also has NO POWER. This sounds a lot like a younger version of Luis Castillo. We all dont like him but the guy hits .275-300 and has a very high OBP. He also used to be a gold glover. Im not defending luis, his better days have passed him by… all im sayin is we need better than that at 2nd base. I think the Mets actually like Reese Havens a lot more and he has a higher ceiling, I just think he needs to show he can stay healthy. They also have Jordanny Valdespin who also has talent. I would use Tejada as trade bait when we need a SP. I wouldnt even bring him up and expose him, he’s also good insurance for Reyes since we have no one else who can really play short
Man these Castillo posts are contradictory to what everybody’s been saying over the last two years. Now a lot of people are saying to keep him, WHAT, get rid of this guy. PLEASE get rid of him, saving us money is a bonus. Could you imagine we had a second baseman that hit a double, Oh man, what a treat.
I’ll take Murph at second, could be comparable to Kelly Johnson. Not a great defender but his bat will help.
Murph – 6’2 – 215 lbs
Johnson – 6’1 – 205 lbs
ughh, it’s not fantasy baseball, you can’t just plug people in a different positions and hope you get good numbers.
1) The guy has no track record to indicate he would hit at a major league level
2) The guy had 55 errors in the minor leagues trying to play the infield, he’s a brutal fielder
3) Where would you bat him in our lineup? a guy that potentially will hit 270, 15 hrs, 60 rbis. Bat him 7th or 8th, how does removing an above average number two hitter w above avg defense for a below avg 7 hole hitter w poor defense help us?
4) This guy isn’t a major leaguer. Minor leagues is full of people who can hit 270, 15, 60 at the major league level, that is why they are minor leaguers. Everyone seems to only want to acknowledge this guys work ethic and determination but not recognize his actual skill level.
If Murphy can simply catch the majority of what is hit at him (i.e. his only real problem is range), I have zero doubt that he would be a significant upgrade at 2B over Castillo.
Murphy can give you a .750 – .800 OPS at 2B … Castillo is going to give you a .650 OPS, and it’s not like Castillo is lighting it up in the field anyway. Between Murphy and Ruben Tejada, you have better options … and Alex Cora isn’t going to be any worse than Castillo (although they are both bad).
Also, Murphy played 17 games at 2B for Binghamton according to Baseball Reference….he had 98 defensive chances (putouts/assists/w/e)…out of those 98 chances he made 5 errors for a .950 fielding percentage….he also turned 16 DPs in 17 games…so he wasnt putrid at 2B…
5 errors in 17 games is actually putried, that calculates to 47 errors over a 162 game season.
Thats with no coaching and work there though, I was looking at it more with the sense of constant work with Chip Hale would improve on that and he’d get more and more comfortable..
I mean you obv like Murphy for whatever reason, but he has done nothing to make you think he can hit, much less field at the major league level. There are plenty of other FAs or minor leaguers better suited to play 2b for the Mets. I would rather see Tejada before I ever see Murphy try and play 2b.
I understand teaching someone a new position when your lineup needs the guys bat anyway possible, but that is not the case here, he hardly hits at a major league level, now you are trying to shove new positions into the mix.
I don’t think we’ve seen enough of Murphy in a normal lineup to say what his offensive upside is. It may be that the end of 2008 was a fluke, but I think its worth seeing how he does in this lineup before writing him off. I’ll also note that his FPCT at 1st base last year was better than all other infielders (Wright, Reyes and Castillo). And I think Pagan is a perfect no. 2 hitter. Reyes Pagan Bay Davis Wright Barajas Murphy Frenchy.
please don’t compare a 1b fielding percentage to other middle fielders:
1b is significantly easier position to play w less chances for errors
compare his fielding percentage against other 1b man, his ,989 is still on the bottom of the scale..
Great idea there. He has 17 games of experience at 2B so let’;s just plop him down there because clearly he’s ready.
The only possible question here is who we would be getting. I’m assuming its no Jimenez, so which Rockies starter helps us? I don’t know their staff enough to say, but if we can pick up a solid number 2/3 slot pitcher, you do it. Tejada/Cora/Murph would do just fine.
in what world do you think the Rockies are trading you anything of value so they can play Castillo as a backup 2baseman?
Rosenthall had him as part of a deal, presumably with us eating some of his contract. I mean, we’re reading the same thing, right? And you generally don’t make a trade unless you get something of value, right?
then explain why the Rockies would do the deal
This is insane. Is a trade always player-for-player? Is this a fantasy ball thing? You make a trade by figuring what the other side wants from you and what you want from them in return, and then you add on one side or the other to make it an even deal. Jeebus.
Why would the Rockies even give up a number 4 or 5 starter let alone a 2 or 3 for an old second basemen making 6 million a year who they would use as a backup?
If the Mets trade Castillo they will get nothing that great back, it would be made more ust to un load his contract.
I don’t know why – ask Rosenthall!
the best deal the mets could get for castillo, is for either someone to take a small portion of his contract off our hands (bc no ones going to eat the whole thing), and possibly give us a low level prospect back – OR – you find a team that has a castillo of their own at a different position that they will swap w you
Where did Rosenthal say the Mets are going to get back a 2 or 3 type starter?
Nowhere – thus my post: “The only possible question here is WHO WE WOULD BE GETTING.” Since we don’t know who they are offering, we can’t say if its worth it. The point was Castillo certainly could and should be moved for the right deal. I don’t think dumping him for a middle reliever would make sense. But “I don’t know their staff enough” to say, but if they have a middle lineup pitcher they would be willing to move for a package including Castillo, with us eating some of the contract, and maybe prospects, it would be worth.
My feeling on Castillo is if they Mets can move him they should. He had a good year last year and is doing alright this year as well as being healthy for the most part. He doesn’t have a very high trade value but its probably about as high as it will get. I’m not sure what the Mets would be looking for from Colorodo or what they can get but I hope that they are able to make some kind of package deal that unloads Castillo and brings back some kind of pitching upgrade.
This move does not really accomplish anything and i am not sure that it is even fair to throw Murphy into yet another experiment on a ML field. If Murphy is going to transition to 2B, it will likely take most of a AAA season, putting him out in Citifield could turn into a circus and hinder further the development of a player who as pushed way too fast and in way too many directions.
best thing for Murphy is to go to AAA, finish the development of his offensive skills that was interrupted by an early call up and find a position or two that you prove you can play on the ML level..
the Mets will have to put a net up along the first base line to protect the crowd when Murphy tries to turn two
I agree that moving Murphy to 2nd base doesn’t make sense but moving Castillo does. For one they would be cutting some payroll that is being wasted on an overpayed 2nd baseman. Two they can probably get some pitching back(starting or pen) in a package deal with the Rockies. And lastly they can use Cora at 2nd base and bring up Tejada. I believe that Tejada is hurt right now but when he is healthy I would love to see him at 2nd base and until than Tatis can be the back up for 2nd.
Perhaps if this were fantasy baseball where only offensive stats count towards a teams W-L record, then Murphy is a no-brainer at 2B.
But, I do not want a guy who has little to no real experience at 2B playing the game at the MLB level. If he is going to play 2B for this team, he should play the position at AAA for a couple months. Then, maybe bring him up.
Castillo is the least of our worries. If they get rid of him then there won’t be anyone that can have extended at bats. But, without Luis getting on base we won’t have to talk about how our 3-4-5 hitters cant drive him in…maybe the trade will have a positive side after all..
Castillo is the LEAST of our worries? A guy with a slash line of .256/.341/.299?
We get on Wright and Bay, etc, but Castillo has 3 extra base hits in 117 at bats!
On what planet is this considered acceptable?
After reading, ok, I lied, skimming through most of these posts, I am curious as to why people wouldn’t jump at the chance to get of rid Castillo? We play in New York. The Wilpons have money so why is eating his contract or at least most of it such a big deal?
In 117 ABs this season, he has 1 double and 2 triples. He is not even slugging .300 and his OPS is .640. He is shaky at best at his D. People say he is the least of our worries. He may not be problem number 1 but he is hurting the team more then helping in my opinion.
If Murphy can come in and hit .270 – .280 with 10-12 bombs and 70 RBIs vs whatever Castillo winds up at, isn’t that helping the team? Last season, when Murph was batting 2nd, he hit .288 with a .350 OBP. I think he can fill that role just fine.
I dont think it will ever be a matter of can Murphy hit, it will be a matter of where he can most effectively field and hit. Right now second base would be a really really really tricky thing to wedge in.
Right. I am not trying to detract the pro-castillo argument. I am trying to figure out why some think that Castillo is not a liability. I think Murph can be average enough to be okay.
Can he really be any worse then Dan Uggla at fielding or Chase Utley who already has 6 errors? If he can average out to about 10-11 errors then I think he will be an upgrade.
Of course, I am not using Fangraphs which I probably should to see who really stinks at defense.
you are also comparing Murphy’s offense to Uggla’s , let alone Utley’s. If you told me Murphy could hit over 30 hrs or drive in close to 100, by all means pick up a glove an get out on 2b. but for 15 hrs and 60 rbis have fun in the minors.
I can understand that. I really can. I am not saying Castillo is a major problem, just trying to figure out why the defense of Castillo, especially if we can upgrade because its not like Castillo is helping much.
it’s bc even though Castillo doesn’t have tremendous range and isn’t flashy, he is more than a capable fielder. Why are you going to start potentially terrible fielder at second base to get hopefully better hitting.
If you are going to eat Castillo’s contract, then just wait until the offseason to either groom tejada or use that money to sign an actual good second baseman.
I can’t wait until someone approaches Santana and tells him they are thinking about Murphy at 2nd base.
Luis made 11 errors last season while having below average range. I admit, I really dont know what the best fielding statistic is best to go off of. Regardless, if they can upgrade the position, anyway they can, I think you go for it.
Castillo made 11, one of his higher totals in his long career, at 2b over a full season. Murphy made 10 at 1b in less than a full season at a much easier position. I for one do not want to see murphy at 2b, I can see him costing us way more runs than he will produce.
His production at 2B would make him pretty much an average hitting 2Bman, and what exactly happens when he has to take the field?
slapstick. the kind that’s funny to the other team.
I dislike Castillo as much as anyone, but his UZR this year so far is .1 which is very good for him. He had been at -4 and -11 the last 2 years.
It’s the nonexistence of a bat that gets me.
I was talking about Murph, not LC.
For all the bashing about Castillo’s lack of offense, he does do some things very well. He never strikes out, he works the count better than pretty much anyone else on the team, and he gets on base. The reason he hasn’t scored many runs is: look who’s been hitting behind him! The Dynamic Duo over there who strike out at a rate that would make Mark Reynolds cringe.
He can’t field worth a damn though.
Just to back up what i said with some hard stats:
Before this season, Castillo had scored 37.5% (973/2592) of the times he reached base via a hit or walk. This season its 21.7% (10/46).
Get your acts together 3,4,5.
Those strengths (getting on base, not striking out, etc.) don’t mean much if he is hitting.250. He needs to hit .300 like last year to have value as an offensive player.
It would be nice if he hits .300, and don’t get me wrong, i know he’s not exactly a great offensive player, but, as a #2 hitter, getting on base and not striking out, making productive outs, etc. are MORE important than batting average. With that said, if we could magically find a more productive and better fielding second baseman (ORLANDO HUDSON, OMAR!!!!) to replace castillo, i’m all for it.
He’s almost exactly league average in terms of on base percentage. I wouldn’t call that doing something very well.
League Avg on base % is .331, the Mets team on base% is .320.
Castillo’s career OBP is .368 (.370 as a Met). Yes, exactly average???
1) I DO NOT HATE MURPHY.
2) IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE METS AS A WHOLE IN 2009
3) His production as a 1Bman was putrid. Face it. Living in reality is good, trust me. Even with the best Kool-Aide driven “projections” he would still not have the production needed to be a 1Bman for any team hoping for a winning season.
4) He can’t field 3B LOOK UP HIS STATS: .915 Fielding Percentage in 200 games. .915. That hasn’t been good since they started using more than one ball per game.
5) He cannot field LF
6) He can barely field 1B.
7) Now, for reasons only known to the aluminum hat crowd, people want to convert him to a 2B. Really? Based on what exactly?
8) Last year’s production was below average for a 2Bman. Yes, it was. Kool-Aide doesn’t change that.
9) Now, it appears, there will be this ground swell of lemmings lurching towards this “idea” you can trade Castillo and plop Murphy down at 2B with effectively ZERO experience. Say that in front of a mirror and let me know if you laughed.
10) I am not saying Castillo is great or good. I am saying, to make this as crystal clear as possible (and I’m typing really slow so you can understand this) – YOU CANNOT JUST PLOP DOWN SOMEONE WITH 17 GAMES EXPERIENCE AT 2B AND EXPECT GREAT RESULTS. Replace Castillo – yes; but not with Murphy.
This has got to be the stupidest idea floating around on Planet Earth, or anywhere in the Solar System at the moment.
You typed that too fast. Could you try again, but slower please. I didn’t follow.
I am at a loss, a complete loss, as to why people think this is a good idea.
If they want to move him to 2B they need to put him there in AAA and see if he can learn and how well he does over 50 or 60 games. Fielding stats translate just fine between AAA and ML. There’s absolutely no way they can just plug him into 2B on the big club. If they trade Castillo, they need to bring Tejada back up, or Havens, and go with that.
Just from watching him move while fielding other positions, I don’t think he ever gets it down. Long term, Murphy ends up a Tatis clone, minus Tatis’ limitted ability to play up the middle.
Right, a player who can play any position with extremely mediocre ability.
Pretty much.
and we see how popular Tatis is around here.
A Castillo hater, but with a voice of reason. Why does everybody have this Murphy fixation?
The same reason everyone has a Francoeur fixation.
He showed up and played well in his first two months with the team. Therefore, he’s the second coming and any letdown in his game play is the fault of ________ (insert whatever you feel like here, other than the player’s name).
Usually they blame HoJo. It seems to fit though. How can you make a career .249 hitter your batting coach.
A person’s ability to teach hitting has nothing to do with his career batting average. I am not saying he’s a good or bad hitting coach, but it has nothing to do with his own career numbers. Charlie Manuel was a .198 hitter. How’d he do coaching the powerhouse Indians 10-15 years ago? How bout those Phillies?
The weekend can officially begin:
WE GOT SYLOW STATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man it’s going to be a good weekend.
I just don’t feel “balanced” until Sy drops some knowledge on me!!!!!!
Dude, I don’t disagree with you at all. I just get a kick out of how passionate you are in defending the ineptitude of one Daniel Murphy……..
were you here over the winter? I have calmed down a lot.
Yes, you and I had quite a few exchanges about Murph. You turned me to the Dark Side of stats………fact bases decision making!!!! I like it…..
“The work of science is to substitute facts for appearances and demonstrations for impressions.” -John Ruskin
Thank you.
Murphy’s production last year wouldn’t have been below average. In the NL, he would’ve had the 3rd most doubles, 4th most homers, 4th most RBI of 2B
I would deal Castillo and Cora by the end of the year and just go with Murphy and Tejada as a platoon. Bot can fill in at other spots
then if they stink sign a Free Agent 2B
Deal Castillo if they can. They would likely have to eat say 75% of the contract but whatever. Time for a change
Sure, write off the season, and just put rookies at all positions.
Matt, I love you blog. It has given me a lot of insight about the team that I never had before. However, there are times where you are just a bit “off the wall”, and this is one of them.
You on Castillo, “… it’s like, he’s just there… he’s a living, breathing person at second base, only capable of hitting singles and making the routine play… ” It seems that Luis Castillo bashing is the one of the favorite sports of a lot of people, but you think Cora or Murphy are better. Neither one of them are power hitters or super catalysts. Sure, Cora has a serviceable glove, but is he really an upgrade for an aging Castillo? Oh, and Murphy and Cora don’t have Castillo’s speed on the basepaths.
Short of bringing up another person from our minor league teams, getting some better starting pitching, or trading for an upgrade; I don’t see the logic in trading him at this time.
I think Castillo has been a scapegoat around here for a while, but lets not oversell what he is.
He’s a consistent, sure-handed 2B with limited range, who doesn’t strike out much, and gets on base at a league average clip. That’s it.
If they can trade him and get any value in return, they can plug Cora or Tejada into that spot and probably not lose all that much production and maybe game some range at 2B.
Look, I don’t think that Castillo is an all star. However, I think we have limited options. I am intrigued by Tejada, but have given up on the season so much that we need to plug in rookies at all questionable positions. I am glad Barrajas is producing, or people would be screaming for Thole.
Here’s the thing with Murphy….defense aside…..
His numbers from last year rate as a very poor 1b, but a good 2b.
not as good as you think. The average starting 2Bman had an OPS+ of 98, Murphy’s was 95. He would be about average there (granted not Biblically badas he is at 1B). But most of the poorer hitting 2Bman are good fielders. So, the combination of Murphy’s average hitting for the position of 2B and his (face it) expected poor defense if he parachutes into the Met 2B job like these people are saying makes him a really bad idea. It’sd not like they’re saying “let’s put Willie Mays at 2B and see what happens”.
Sylow nobody can argue the fact(the OPS) but you need to remember….Murphy’s was 95…and he was god awful for june and july or w/e 2 month span that was…if he just had just played a little bit better over that 2 month stretch…he’d be an above average player in terms of 2B ratings. I know that you can’t necessarily discount the slump because it was there..and it was there for 2 months…but that was early on in his career…like month 4 and 5 or w/e of his career and he had to make adjustments..and when he did, he started hitting and playing in the field more respectively, so you’d like to think the OPS+ would be higher as Murph gets more experience. Do you agree?
Barajas gives you excellence in one facet of his game, even if his offense was bad. Castillo is mediocre across the board.
I’m not anti-Castillo. I haven’t had a problem with him in the last two years. My point is that if they have the chance to trade him, and since they obviously want to move him (they’ve tried to trade him all over the place since last off season), they should do it. I’d rather get the young guy at bats for the rest of the year.
My point is that if they can trade Castillo FOR VALUE (meaning they don’t just eat his whole salary AND give him away for nothing) they should do it. Let Tejada get some at bats with the big club for three or four months so that the Front Office can determine if he’s going to stick at 2B or if they need to find another solution this off season.
I guess I’m saying, if they’re going to trade Luis, they should do it now if they’re able. Otherwise hold onto him. Trading him at the trade deadline wouldn’t give you enough time to really audition Tejada as his replacement.
We’ve seen plenty of times (Murphy, Francoeur) that a player can be hot for six weeks and look much better than they are. I’d rather see what Tejada can do over three or four months if they’re going to consider him a candidate for 2B next year and beyond.
I would trade Castillo if you don’t have to eat salary. A run of the mill bullpen arm or someone who can play CF would be an excellent return.
However, Murphy, at this point, cannot play 2B. Stick him at 2B in AAA and see how he does for 50+ games, then MAYBE. In the meantime, Cora or Tejada won’t be anything different than Castillo.
side note, people RAVING ABOUT HAVENS gove at 2b since his promotion to AA. He had on tough error, and other than that has been super solid. Striking out alot but just getting back his timing, still though SOLID POWER, GREAT EYE.
few games i know but they say hje looks great!
and btw Tejada has been on FIRE
I just read EVERY post on here, and not one single person has mentioned the obvious thing about Cora yet. There is another issue to be considered when you dump Limpy and throw Cora into his place every game. As soon as Cora plays 80 games this season, he’s back with us for another 2M next season too. So take 1.5M of the money that you are saving from the Limpy deal and flush it down the toilet, because Cora should only be making .5M and will be making 2M because of that deal. Gotta factor that in folks.
If we don’t make the deal, and limit Cora’s games, we save that 2M and can then try to trade Limpy in the off-season when he only has one year left on that contract, and it won’t affect Cora’s status.
well the thing is, the mets like cora, and I don’t think many people are that concerned with having Cora be the backup IF…hes OK..plays decent D and will have his occasional moments on offense…and his role will not be nearly as important as Castillo.