5
2008
Dan Murphy In At Second Base, Luis Castillo Out!
An article by 
Adam Rubin of the Daily News had this interesting blurb buried at the end of his column this morning.
Luis Castillo signed a four-year, $25 million contract last winter. But the Mets are signaling they intend to shop the second baseman this offseason, even if it means eating some contract. Daniel Murphy, who has settled into a left field platoon with fellow rookie Nick Evans, has been asked by the organization to play second base in the Arizona Fall League. Murphy is a converted infielder, although he primarily manned third base in the minors. He was exposed to second base only during a 15-game stretch from July 3-18 when he was asked while with Double-A Binghamton to play there because Castillo’s health looked shaky.
Wow!
Can you imagine getting the type of offense Daniel Murphy is capable of delivering from the second base position?
To say that I am very ecstatic about this news would be a complete understatement. Ushering in a new era at CitiField with an infield of Delgado, Murphy, Reyes and Wright would be so exciting to see.
Of course, we will all have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that Murphy can learn to field the position without being a liability. That’s not to say he can’t pull it off, I’m just saying let’s be cautiously optimistic.
Either way, losing Castillo will still mean options like Argenis Reyes will also be in the mix, and that’s a good thing.
By the way… Remember how SNY, ESPN, FOX and SI.com all said the Mets farm system was a wasteland back in March? They all said we had nothing of any value and that our best and only prospect was three years away. Well I got a message for all of them now… BITE ME!
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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They have always said that we don’t have a farm system and I have NEVER believed them. Look at we have produced in the last several years.
Ty Wiggington
Jeff Keppinger
Scott Kazmir
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Mike Pelfrey
Mike Jacobs
Marcos Scutaro
hahaha, awesome finish Joe!!
Don’t forget Jason Bay!
Keppinger and Scutaro didn’t come up through our system, we acquired Kepp from the Pirates as part of the Benson deal and Scutaro came from the Indians organization.
This is the exact move i’ve been talking about, woohooo I’m right again
)
Reyes
Murphy 2B
Wright
Delgado
Beltran
Church
Evans/Tatis or ? LF
Scneider/Castro
That is a lineup that should put up runs and won’t cost us any more money. Take the money and shore up the bullpen and sign Ollie
If the Murphy moves works out I would consider a deal of FMart, Castillo Evans, Carp and Heilman for James Loney, a pitcher and a prospect.
With Kent’s announcement that he may retire or if he does player another year he wants to be closer to home in Texas and the likely hood of Manny signing elsewhere the Dodgers could possibly benefit from adding and Castillo and FMart. Loney will be among the top 3 all around 1B in a year or two and acquiring him would give us a very solid young infield for many years to come (Wright, Reyes, Murphy and Loney).
We all know Delgado never wanted to play in NY, since he didn’t get a no trade clause in the contract he signed with the Marlins he had no say in any trades. It may be a good move to buy out his option (which is a team option) and then see if we can sign him to a new deal for 1 year. By doing this we can see what his true feelings are of NY.
I knew Castillo was going to get hurt again!!!!!!! I said it was a bad idea to bring him back , to sent Argenis Reyes down was a bad idea, he showed he can play 2nd and hit!!!! I dont know how Murphy will be at 2nd BUT he can HIT!!!!!!!!we will have to wait and see, Mets have to keep it going against the Phillies this weekend!!!!! GO METS!!!!!
Christian, who then plays left field for us next year? Tatis? Or do you go out and get a LF?
As much as I would love to have Loney, I don’t see a trade like that happening.
Mets are said to be looking for a righty bat in left in 2009 the very reason they are considering moving Murphy to 2B. While a Loney deal is unlikely, Mets do need to upgrade at 1B despite Delgado’s resurgence. Even though he has shown improvement on defense at 1B he is still a liability defensively and 1B is too important a defensive position to have a slow right handed fielder with limited range.
Maybe the Astros will still want Castillo…
Possibly for some peanuts and a few old Clemens jerseys to use in the new toilets in Citi Field…
I’d have to see Murphy play 2nd base before I could subscribe to that. Hell, why not keep him in left and bring up Argenis? Happy to see Castillo go, though. He’s contributed in some ways, but I can’t get behind him.
I think Delgado has played extremely well at first since July.
I love to see the young talent. I said at the time how happy I was that the Mets didn’t make a move at the deadline and now we see that we do have some good young players on the farm.
There’s a possibility we could have Wright, Reyes, Pelfry, Maine, Evans, Murphy and FMart all on the same team. Add a bat and a pitcher through free agency and we have a legitimate World Series threat. This is the new model for teams with money and I’m so glad we didn’t throw one of the young guys away for some has-been as in recent times, (like the last 46 years)!
Mike – First off Evans really isn’t that good, over time he will be over matched. Second if we kept both Murphy and Evans there wouldn’t be any room for another bat.
luis castillo has to go. unfortunatly he has another 3 years left after this one.