Remember Jim Bowden? The former Nationals and Reds GM had this to say on his Twitter account:
Dodgers talking with Braves re: Vazquez and Mets re: Castillo according to sources.
Last year it would have been easy to assume that the Dodgers were probably discussing a swap for Juan Pierre (bad contract for bad contract), but that was back when Castillo was at rock bottom in terms of value.
Could the Mets be looking at something closer to Casey Blake?
Both players are signed for two more years for similar dollars and would fill a big hole for each team.
Blake has played mostly third base for the Dodgers, but has logged plenty of time at first base during his career. He also would give the Mets that righthanded power bat to platoon with Daniel Murphy at first base.
The Dodgers are currently in some financial upheaval due mostly to a messy divorce by the McCourts. They have already resigned themselves to letting productive players like Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf go without so much as an offer. Both players figured heavily in their division titles last season.
The Dodgers also have several major arbitration cases ahead of them with significant raises in store for catcher Russell Martin, first baseman James Loney, outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, and starting pitcher Chad Billingsley.
The Dodgers could easily save a few million dollars by shedding Blake and signing the recently released Pedro Feliz among other solid and cheaper options. Castillo would supplant Orlando Hudson who earned $2 million more than Castillo did. The move could save the Dodgers in upward of $5 million dollars or more.
Blake batted .280 with 18 homeruns and 79 RBIs for the Dodgers last season. His .363 OBP and .832 OPS would be a big plus for the Mets.
More importantly, Blake batted .320 against lefthanded pitching with a .442 OBP and a 1.005 OPS.
Seems to me like Blake would be right up the Mets alley. He would be a solid power bat off the bench and be able to give David Wright a few days off to keep him fresh and on top of his game.
Blake batted .360 down the stretch in September and October, something that should be very appealing to Mets fans.
He is owed $6 MM in 2010 and $5.25 MM in 2011, and there is a team option for $6 MM in 2012.
He can also play leftfield.
He’d be a lot cheaper than going after some of the other free agent first basemen out there, and his presence would allow the Mets not to rush Ike Davis to the majors.
What are your thoughts?
By the way, it feels good to be back after a ten day layoff due to some health issues. Thanks to all our writers for keeping the site going, and thanks to all our readers for being the lifeblood of Mets Merized Online.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
Welcome back Joe, If the Dodgers are up for it this move is a real plus for the Mets. A Blake/Murphy platoon would give the Mets the power numbers they are looking for and then LF could be maned by Chone Figgens to solidify the outfield
Thanks so much Steve. I agree, and I’m a big fan of Chone Figgins whose style is perfect for CitiField. I’d rather spend the big bucks on a quality starter, hopefully Lackey.
If we traded Castillo for Blake, I’d think Figgins would slot into 2nd base.
I never gave much thought to Casey Blake, but it makes sense and isnt as far fetched as the Adrian Gonzalez threads are. I only fear that he is 36 years old and worry about him being able to maintain his success.
Casey Black can play 140 games a year. If he platoons with Murphy, he gets only 60 games against lefties. Can he really play first base or left field?? I mean is he any good defensively.
You have to ask that question before you really consider it.
I was thinking the same thing, but if you were to add in 7-8 games at third, and 15-20 in the outfield, it just might workout. That would bring him to 90 games not counting interleague DH games and pinch hit appearances. Plus considering his age, a lesser workload may be best for all parties involved.
It seems that we fans like everyone we don’t have. They all look great on paper. Then we get them and we realize their shortcomings.
That’s true, but the Mets themselves have said that they want a righthanded power bat to platoon with Murphy at first base.
It’s also no secret that they are obviously talking to at least three teams for the purpose of getting rid of Castillo, presumably to make room for Orlando Hudson.
Given those facts, can you think of a better fit than Casey Blake if we were to deal Castillo? He does seem to fit all the given parameters.
Do you know of any better low cost options to platoon at first base/ Glaus seems like such a risk to me.
BTW I just looked it up for curiosity’s sake, and the last time Blake logged any significant playing time at first base was in 2008 and he had a 4.4 UZR. Not bad at all.
I think it’s terrible that the Dodgers are actually cutting payroll and players because of this divorce crap. They were the only decent team in the NL West, and now all of baseball has to suffer because no matter what a crappy team will get a playoff spot for taking first place in baseballs worst division. I wonder how Torre feels about this? Go Padres!
Great idea Joe….hopefully Minaya is checking your site
Blake is a good soldier, not a liability, and not likely to make any significant difference. His bat is slow and he spent the playoffs swinging and missing at high fast balls. The mets will not move up in the standings because of him. Trading him for Castillo is a wash in my book. Unless we then get Brandon Phillips. Chone Figgins just don’t float my boat, not for the money he wants, and not after watching his performance against the yanks.
I dont believe the Mets will move up in the standings because of any one player including Bay or Holliday. The name of the game is upgrading at several different positions and areas. Would Blake’s bat be an upgrade over Murphy against lefthanders? I’ll let you answer that. This is one of at least 5-6 moves the Mets would have to make. Thanks for reading and joining the debate.
You make a good point. Incrementalimprovement. But if the mets cannot send out three pretty good pitchers every five games, we are just going there for the food.
Well this is a little bit of a surprise, one I didn’t think of, I guess a Blake/ Castillo swap makes sense for both sides, not exactly the power u want but productive, he would play 1b, I wonder though if that is the case will they sign Figs to play LF and Hudson at 2b, hmm interesting…I know this is asking too much, I would love to do a swap of Perez and Castillo for Blake and Pierre but I know that is probably asking too much.
I’VE READ ALL OF EVERYONE’S THOUGHTS YET DON’T SEE ANY CONSIDERATION FOE COMPLETING THE LINEUP! IF I TRULY LOOK AT ALL YOUR MENTIONED ACQUISITIONS & INCLUDE OUR ROSTER STABLE OF HELD PLAYERS I GET A POOL THAT INCLUDES ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
BLAKE
MURPHY*
BELTRAN*
PAGAN*
HOLLIDAY
BAY
HUDSON
FRANCOUER*
* ALREADY ON ROSTER
CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOUR CLEANUP BOPPER IS? DO WE JUST LIKE THE ‘05 RESULTS WE EARNED WITHOUT ONE? I SEE VERY LITTLE CONSIDERATRION FOR THAT DILEMMA, A 20 HR GUY ISN’T A #4 HITTER FOR A TRUE CONTENDER, HELL, NOT ONLY PHL & ATL TOP US THERE; BUT ADD THE GNATS AS WELL. THERE IS ONLY 2 POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS NOT MENTIONED 1) FIELDER & 2) DELGADO. AM I MISSING SOMETHING? BELTRAN WILTS AS A #4 WRIGHT IS TRULY A #3 BEST SUITED @ #5. WE ALL HAVE SEEN DAVID STRUGGLE AFTER ADJUSTING HIS SWING. FIRST AFTER THE HR DERBY, THEN AFTER CITI RE-EMPHASIS ON ON-BASE OVER POWER. WHERE DOES ANYONE SUPPOSE HE’LL FALL IF #4. IN MY BOOK, SOLVING THE CLEANUP SPOT IS ALMOST AS CRITICAL AS UPGRADING #2SP.
CAN WE AT LEAST GET ONE POSING ON THAT CRITICAL SUBJECT!
I’ll be delving into that very subject this week. Here are the facts.
1. The Mets do not have a prototypical power hitter and cleanup hitter on the current squad.
2. All the talk is about Holliday, but truth be told he is not exactly a power hitter in the true sense of what the Mets need.
3. The options in free agency are weak and all have some risk due to age or injury concerns. (IE: Huff, Glaus, Delgado, etc.)
4. The on again/off again Adrian Gonzalez on the block rumors are off again.
5. The Brewers have made it emphatically clear that Fielder will not be traded.
So what options are left?
A trade is probably the best way to fill that power void if the Mets want to dance toe to toe with the powerful Phillies.
I would target Joey Votto, Curt Granderson, Derek Lee, Miguel Cabrera, Andre Ethier, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel.
All those players come from teams who recently publicized slashing payroll. Votto doesn’t carry a big salary, but I recently read that the Reds would move one of their younger stars if they could fill several holes on the team as they slash highly paid veterans.
Face the facts. The Mets will not have a 35 HR guy this year. But if you have Santan paired with Lackey or Halladay, that is just as good. The other thing you need is a healthy Reyes and Beltran plus a comeback season by Wright.
If all that happens the Mets are a very good team.
Like I said Danny, i am trying to think realistic here, if the mets only have around 30 mil to spend i think it will be Halliday and a lot of grinders on the mets like Molina, Hudson at 2b and Pierre in LF, Glaus to complement Murphy, Biemel as the other Lefty reliever and a guy like Penny as the other starting pitcher. I mean Danny in truth, as far as the Yankees are concerned, isn’t Lackey the only real big FA’s that makes sense for them…I mean they sign Lackey to go with CC, Burnett, Pettitte for 1 more year and Wang as the 5th starter, no players are traded, they re-sign Damon, open up the DH spot to get Posada some days off when he doesn’t catch, they have Hughes, Joba, Mo rivera, Coke and Marte in there pen. Who’s living life better then them?? Just a thought.
I’m totally worried about the Yankees for years to come. But I don’t think Damon will be back. They will not give him more than one year and he and Boras won’t take that. I think the Yankees will go for Matt Holliday for left field. He’s the perfect guy. With Damon, Melky and Swisher they have a very weak outfield.
As far as the Mets go, sounds pretty good although I will not accept Pierre as our everyday left fielder. Offensively he’s only marginally better than Castillo. We must find somebody better.
Danny, I agree with you as regards Pierre, but unfortuately he fits the Small Ball model that Jerry has been preaching. We may just have to suffer with Pierre as our LF’er. Perhaps that will help terminate Jerry’s time as Mgr.