The Mets were all about station to station last year. It took 3 hits to score a run.

If Reyes gets on, Castillo is apt to bunt him over and that gives away an out.

Murphy at .330 OBP, hitting 40 doubles and 15 HR is so much bitter than Castillos .387 OBP , hitting 15 doubles and 125 singles.

I rest my case.

What you’re doing there though is you’re totally negating your own belief.

Okay so you want our #2 hitter in Murphy who will get on base let’s just say 33% of the time. How does that improve production? Your #2′s job is not to get RBI. In the Mets case it’s to allow Reyes to steal second or get him to second if he can’t swipe and to set the table for 3-4-5. Typical NL ball.

You saying put Murphy @ the 2 hole doesn’t allow Wright-Beltran to drive in runs. If Reyes is out up first then what? Then you have a 33% chance at best of getting somebody on base for your run producers.

Every team needs people to get on base to increase run production. If everybody in your NL lineup is a HR or Bust type hitter you’re not going to score a lot of runs because the bases will be empty.

Unless you have a legit OBP for the 2 hole, you can’t sell me on Phillips being a more important player in the lineup. I’m sorry but it doesn’t fit Citi Field or the core of the Mets lineup.

I know Murphy’s OBP was low – but he’s going to do better this year. Bat him 2nd and Phillips 6th or 7th. Last year it was station to station and that killed our offense. We couldn’t put 3 hits together to score runs. I’d take 12 homers and 85 RBI from Phillips in a second over what Castillo can bring to the table.

Every off-season some fan asks that question, and the answer is always the same. Save your money.

OPS+ (Adjusted Park_ Brandon Phillips in 2009 was +102, Castillo was +98… but you’re right stats are stupid and that doesn’t show you any inclination of what Phillips would do at Citi Field after leaving the launching pad

— What do your eyes see? My eyes saw Dusty Baker in July say Brandon Phillips has a poor attitude and work ethic. I love baseball fans who demean stats. Yet every organization in the league has statistical analysts now working for them. Your eyes are seeing what you want to see. You’re seeing a guy you hate and not giving him credit for a very good season.

Castillo is a #2 or #8 hitter, something every NL team needs. Phillips is not a #2 or #8 hitter, so comparing their “production” is silly. If Reyes was on instead of every other leadoff hitter we had in 2009, would Castillo have brought in more runs? It’s impossible for you to say no.

Sometimes you have to be happy with what you have. Are you trying to tell me that you’d rather have Daniel Murphy at 1B, Fernando Tatis in LF, Omir Santos at C, and question marks at SP and RP just to have Brandon Phillips over Castillo? Are you also trying to tell me that if the Mets focus on those issues and keep castillo that they can’t win?

In four years, Phillips has averaged .265 with a .312 OBP, 21HR and 84 RBI. That’s not exciting to me. We don’t need middle of the lineup guys if they focus on LF/1B. We need guys GETTING ON BASE! Getting on base 31% of the time no matter how much you hate stats is not better than getting on base 38% of the time, especially in the #2 slot when your job is to allow Reyes the time to steal second base and to get ON BASE FOR WRIGHT/BELTRAN.

That’s his job. Daniel Murphy hit .266 and had an OBP of .313 in 2009, those 2 #s sound familar? Here’s the difference. He’s 5 years younger than Phillips and doesn’t have a poor attitude!

And Danny, you can take Phillips HR and RBI. But nobody has answered me what Phillips would do for power in Citi Field since he’d be out of GAB in Cincy.

Phillips last year hit 20HR and drove in 98. You turn some of those homeruns into pop flys, and you have yourself a 10-15 HR guy driving in 80 something RBI. You’re going to put that guy in the middle of your lineup?

So where does he fit into your projected Mets lineup? He certainly isn’t hitting 2nd (which leaves you needing a 2 hitter) and he certainly isn’t hitting 3-4-5 because he doesn’t get on base, hit for average or have enough power to carry Citi Field.

So you’re telling me you’d rather have a poor attitude 6-7 hitter over a guy who worked his ass off last year to prove every Mets fan wrong and a proven OBP guy for Reyes to steal and our 3 hitter to drive in runs.

I’ll take Phillips and his HR and RBI over Castillo any day.

“Look at it from this perspective: Of all the time he looked at all those pitches, what percentage of that did he actually have a productive at-bat? Or drive in a run from second base? Remember the mets led the league in “empty calories”, RISP avg. but, were among the worst teams in RBI or Runs scored.”

— Castillo hit .325 with runners in Scoring position. He got on base .397 percent of the time with runners in scoring position. Brandon Phillips hit .291, got on base .333 percent of the time and Hudson hit .264 and .394 with runners in scoring position. So where on earth can you say Castillo isn’t having productive at bats? He takes more pitches, he gets on base more, he gets more base hits with RISP and he K’s less.

Don’t forget Castillo was one of the only contributors to an injured lineup. He did that with almost no talent around him. How can you say he wasted at bats or wasn’t productive.

As for yelling at the TV when Castillo takes a pitch on a 3-1 count (which he hit below .200) to make a count 3-2 (which he hit .329) no I don’t mind that. BTW Hudson hit .235 with a 3-2 count and Phillips hit .195 with a 3-2 count. So who’s at bats are wasted at 3-2?

You obviously don’t watch Phillips or Hudson play so you have the luxury of just being frustrated with Castillo. You don’t have 2009 stats to back up your frustrations because if you were HONEST, you’d say he had as good of a year as you could ask from him, especially under the circumstances of our team’s health.

If he can replicate last year or at least come close to it then I would be more than happy with him at second. My biggest fear is that his body breaks down mid-way through next year, leaving us with no full-time second baseman and a unmovable contract.

All I was saying was that with all the talk surrounding Omar Minaya potentially trading Luis Castillo, I would rather see the team go after Brandon Phillips than Orlando Hudson.

Hoops: I didn’t mean YOU were saying 2B should be a priority… I was saying that reading your article mentioning Phillips and Hudson drove me over the edge. Your article was an “if” no Castillo, but the masses are constantly talking about making 2B a priority.

I would rather see them get Lopez or Polanco than a poor attitude Phillips or Luis Castillo 2 yrs ago in Orlando Hudson

I like the idea of selling high on Castillo, something that simply wasn’t possible 1 year ago. The idea of Hudson or Phillips as replacements, not so much. I far prefer Placido Polanco on a short contract. His defense will help while the organization keeps its eyes and ears open for better long term solutions than Hudson, Phillips or for that matter, Castillo.