25
2011
Castillo Fading Out Of Picture
An article by 
Just because he hustles doesn’t mean Daniel Murphy will win the second base job. There are concerns about his defensive abilities, and while he has shown glimpses of offensive production, it is still a small window.
The Mets like Rule 5 selection Brad Emaus’ potential, and he’ll get a nod over Justin Turner because the latter has remaining options.
The book on Emaus is he has adequate range and power potential as he hit ten homers in 309 at-bats for Toronto’s Triple A affiliate last summer.
Could he and Murphy share the job in a platoon basis? Absolutely.
Also working in Emaus’ favor is his ability to back up David Wright at third. Murphy, of course, can back up Ike Davis at first, so that platoon offers versatility.
Where does that leave Luis Castillo?
The Mets would love to deal him, but aren’t close to drawing any interest. Reports are Castillo could have reported in better shape, and although he didn’t come to camp early because of a family situation, he didn’t tell the Mets what was going on.
Manager Terry Collins said he would have preferred Castillo report early, but said that while not being aware of Castillo’s situation. A little communication would have spared Castillo a dig from his new manager.
Not a good start by Castillo, who has to be flawless to make the team.
I believe the deciding factor at second base is defense.
If Murphy/Emaus show they can handle the position, it would go a long way to keeping that platoon over Castillo, whose defense skills are on a decline. If thier defense proves lacking, Ruben Tejada will be back in the discussion rather quickly.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 41 | 28 | .594 | - |
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| Phillies | 33 | 37 | .471 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 39 | .391 | 13.5 |
| Marlins | 21 | 47 | .309 | 19.5 |
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fade away Luis, fade away for good.
Not surprised if he is not in top shape, or didn’t keep the team in the loop. that is because I don’t think he is actually interested in winning a job (at least not to the extent that he is going to go out of his way to try). Quite likely that he wants nothing more to do with NY and getting booed by met fans, so he is going to make damned sure he gets released in ST so he can fine some other team to drag down!
Luis has a guaranteed contract in 2011 for $6.25 million so you may be on to something.
Luis had a fine career, but Mr. Time has had the final say.
any says it all
What reports are saying Castillo came into camp in less than good enough shape and that Mets are actively trying to trade him right now?
How about the fact the Mets have been trying to trade him since the nanosecond Sandy walked in the door.
I havent seen any reports that he is out of shape or disinterested, just seems implied since he didnt tell anyone about his brother and the fact he demanded a trade last year because he lost his job to Tejada.
Furthermore, Castillo showed up in camp on time, not late. If he was going to be late he had responsibility to explain why. But again, he wasn’t late. He didn’t want to disclose a private family matter, he certainly did not have to.
Collins was the one who made big deal of Castillo not showing up early, that he took it to the media without even bothering to ascertain from the player why he wasn’t showing up early. Collins had expectation but didn’t bother sharing that with Castillo, therefore, Collins had huge hand in this and has himself to blame.
How do you know that Collins didnt try to contact Castillo? Were you there? All Collins said was he expected him there early(like other players) so he can put last year behind him and get rolling for this year.
Yoo have it wrong LongtTmeFan. Collins did speak to Castillo on a Thursday and Castillo said he would be there Saturdaya and Castillo never mentioned the brother’s upcoming surgery.
“Terry Collins spoke with Luis Castillo by telephone on Thursday afternoon, and the second baseman told the skipper he would see him Saturday, on the day position players officially report.”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/14732/tc-preferred-castillo-reported-early
“Collins never would have even raised the issue of his preference for Castillo to arrive earlier had Castillo mentioned the situation during their midweek phone conversation.”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/14948/castillo-had-family-issue
Also Saturday is a deadline for position players to report that they are in Port St Lucie.
“Saturday is the deadline for position players to report, but that simply means declaring they’re in Port St. Lucie.”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/14874/collins-rolls-eyes-over-castillos-eta
Castillo ended up reporting on Sunday after which Collins lamented ever bringing up Castillo’s absence to the media. Had he known he would of never had brought it up.
“Luis Castillo met with Terry Collins on Sunday morning. And Castillo told his manager there was a medical issue in his family that prevented him from arriving earlier. ”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/14948/castillo-had-family-issue
“Collins said he felt badly for lamenting multiple times to the media that Castillo did not arrive early, now that he knows Castillo’s older brother is set to undergo what’s being labeled serious surgery Monday. Collins asked Castillo why the second baseman did not mention it during their midweek phone conversation.
“He didn’t want anybody to know,” Collins said. “He didn’t want an excuse.”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/14989/tc-says-second-base-open-competition
You know i have a bad feeling we will see Castillo on the opening day roster. With Emaus making the team as a bench player. Tejada will be at SS in Buffalo.With Murphy at 2nd in Buffalo. At least to start the season.
If it helps any, Collins sees 2B as an offensive position, which rules out Slappy.
I saw clips of Emaus around 2nd base and he looks smoother than Murphy. He looks like he has decent hands for 2nd. He is no Tejada, but no butcher either.
what those clips don’t show though is there range. Smooth is nice, but (if like Castillo last year) the guy has no range, you will just see balls scooting past into the outfield. I would rather have less graceful but stopping the ball and making the play!
“Murphy, of course, can back up Ike Davis at first, so that platoon offers versatility.”
Murphy played 3B in the minors and can back up Wright too.
Why no mention of Reese Havens for 2B sometime in the season? He’s better than all of them if his obliques hold up.
thats a big “if”. They want to make usre he’s healed up and that the injury is behind him.
Once that happens though, ya, we’re going to hear a lot about him.
Cerrone at Metsblog…”A couple people I spoke to pointed out how Murphy looked awkward at second. And compared to the other second basemen, perhaps he did.
“To start the day, I told Ted I thought, ‘no doubt,’ Murphy and Emaus will be on the Opening Day roster and the only way Castillo makes the cut is if one of them flops or get hurts. But, after watching these guys work this week, I’m not so sure. I’m starting to see Murphy more as just a pinch-hitter. I see Emaus now fitting management’s description of the position.”
You don’t know that.
He should’ve been gone last year. They should not waste there time with this guy. Let Emaus and Murphy get as many reps as possible and have them platoon at 2nd base. They both provide some pop which helps the lineup since we don’t have a legit big booper. They need to cut the cord immediately and rid themselves of one of Omar’s many mistakes.
Agree
It’s quite a collection of candidates. Tejada is the only one who can play defense (and it is a defensive position,Terry). Emaus and Murphy might hit a little and supply a little power but they might not. It looks like second will be a big hole again in 2011.
Tejada is a good defensive shortstop. What happened the last time we converted a highly touted short stop from our farm to a second baseman? Didn’t work out so well.
Good defense is important at second. But why does it have to be an offensive black hole? Whats wrong with expecting 1-8 of your line up to hit at least .280/.330/.420?
It all comes down to balance. At what point does defensive prowess stop masking offensive difficiency and vice versa?
well, castillo long since passed the point where whatever defense he still offers is not enough to offset his total lack of offense.
i couldnt agree more
But, he looks smooth during a drill
castillo pretty much looked smooth since he didn’t move very much. Hell, he sometimes didn’t bother to charge in on balls hit right at him (letting the run get to 1st) or cover 2nd on balls hit to SS.
I can live with anyone (or any combo of guys) at 2B if I never have to see Slappy there again!
“Whats wrong with expecting 1-8 of your line up to hit at least .280/.330/.420?”
Ah, spoken like an absolute soldier of Sandy’s army. A true member of the world of fantasy. EVERYBODY in the lineu hitting .280 why not? Isn’t “In Theory” wonderful. If only real life baseball was that easy. It looks so perfect, so idyllic, so uniform, so…perfect – therefore we can do it.
so it is a bad thing to want everyone in the lineup to be an actual productive hitter?
No it’s not but it usually doesn’t work out that way in real life.
Has it happened? I”m sure it has. But i’m realistic, it’ doesn’t. There’s a whole lot more to baseball and lineups than saber fantasy people realize.
“saber fantasy people”?
Mind explaining just what you mean there?
Im guessing he means since he doesnt like saber, its not real? So anyone that uses it or agrees with it is in a fantasy. Best I could come up with.
I”m saying what I’ve said for a long time, while it’s good for baseball business to get a newer generation of fan interested and a lot of the newer fans are into fantasy and such.
While that will transcend into better $$$ for baseball, on the downside the overall baseball knowledge and understanding of the average fan is dropping significantly, and that’s a bad thing.
“the overall baseball knowledge and understanding of the average fan is dropping significantly”
The idea that people that enjoy a game of fantasy baseball are then less knowledgeable for doing so is about as ignorant a statement anyone can make.
You only do yourself a disservice by making such statement.
Remember, openly questioning previous assumptions and trying to figure out things yourself does not make you more knowledgable.
Accepting things that are spoon fed to you by some guy who you will never meet nor knows who you are is how one gains true knowledge.
Nice assumption Donal but untrue..and I know what you’re getting at.
Again..WRONG. You have a habit of being wrong.
Sure, everything I say is spoon fed to me..sure.
Since all of the “baseball knowledge” you have tried to lay down that I’ve seen has amounted to tired old cliches that are either unverified or flat out untrue, then ya, I’d have to say you do indeed get spoon fed your ideas.
Yeah,
My analysis of what I think is best for the Mets, somthing I’ve been doing here for years is all untrue and unverified.
..and you’re gonna have a podcast????? Isn’t the internet great? ANYBODY…literally ANYBODY can have a show!
It is great. Because not only can I say anything, anyone can call me out if I’m lying or correct me if I’m wrong. I invite conflicting opinions. I want open and honest discussion.
I can’t stand when interent discussions just turn into echo chambers, the same tired old cliche getting thrown around and treated like gold. A bunch of drones patting each other on the back for regurgitating the rhetoric. It stifles innovation and progress.
And you’re treating your opinion of what is best for the Mets as Gospel and get offended that anyone would dare have a different approach.
You’re more interested in name dropping than presenting actual facts. In one discussion, you’ll try and stick up for old stats and in the next, you’ll quote Vin Scully out of context to condemn using stats.
So, having a team that hits well up and down is a bad thing?
If we have a guy at each position who can do at least the slash I put up and play reasonable defense, why not?
Yeah, that’s what I said – having a team hit well up and down the lineup is a bad thing.
Yep..that’s exactly what I just said.
sigh……
I think this is more of an “english” problem than a baseball problem
Back to my response…Having everybody hitting over .280 is not realistic, highly desireable Yes….likely? No.
More factors come into play when building a winning team. Now just staying focused on the “Lineup” and not anything else, the Mets are a good example of that now…they will be a better team with a lesser hitting 2B with D than adding an offensive 2B without D..so yes…less hitting means a better team in this case.
That’s not fantasy baseball.
I agree with you, partially. But if the Mets can get a .280/.330/.420 slash line out of one of the 2B options, and he has replacement level to slightly below replacement level, whats wrong with that?
Or do you want a team of 8 Rey Ordonez’s running around scoring 1-2 runs a game?
I want the best 2B for the job.
I haven’t seen Emaus but if it’s him….fine. I happen to be rooting for Tejada to hit because in my opinion the Mets will be a better team with his defense. His defense will make Reyes a better fielder too and that will translate into more wins..better defense..not offense.
I just want the best mix to win, not the best hitters..lots of great hitting teams finish in last place but teams with good D & pitching and weaker hitting win more.
I think what’s best for the Mets case..so far..is for Tejada to hit and give us the D. But to be fair I have to see Emaus first and even Havens if he plays.
Whats the ratio? How often do weak hitting good fielding teams beat weak fielding good hitting teams?
I’ll agree that pitching is vital to winning. I’ve also said that I want a good mix. I’d simply rather give a little defense to get a little more offense.
If Murphy can put up big league acceptable defense, then I think his bat will make up for any glove problems.
I disagree. I’d rather an average 2B that can hit like Murphy does than a bad hitter that can field like Tejada does.
If…and I said if…Murphy can play league average 2B, then 2B won’t be the black hole it has been for us, and we’ll have a solid line up top to bottom.
Now, if…again if… Tejada learns how to hit big league pitching and maintains his defense, then I’ll be happy with him playing 2B. I won’t even hold him to the offensive standard I would Murphy. Or, better yet, we let him play SS after we trade Jose Reyes for Nick Swisher.
Its all a matter of how much you are willing to sacrifice of one to get the other.
Jose for Swisher? LOL
Ok for some reason I cant reply to you post about the average fan. The average fan doesnt watch baseball just so they can do saber and play with stats. For example, I was just introduced to sabermetrics this past year when I found Amazin Avenue. I now love reading about advanced stats. But when i watch a game or go to a game, I dont go with the mindset of “Wow Wrights BABIP is this, or Pelfs tERA is that”. I pay attention because I LOVE BASEBALL. I love the experiences of being there and having a good time. After a games over, I’ll mosey over to AA and check out some metrics. So I feel youre wrong.
By the way this post id BAyonne,
Ugh, it should read, this post is for Bayonne.
there are really do separate issues here. 1 is if emaus/murphy/tejada (and turner) can win a wide open job. The other is what to do with Castillo.
If none of the guys in issue 1 actually show they can play (a long shot that they can’t cobble something together out of that bunch), it does NOT mean that by default Castillo has to get the job. If he still sucks too, they can ditch him and find a veteran stop gap until havens is ready (that IMO is they hope right now).
If forced to, harris (that would be a trip!), a luis hernandez type, etc. can be pressed into service.
It really isn’t that hard to find a journeyman type that won’t hit much but can play solid defense.
Well based some of what we seen and been told we know that defensively the 2 seemingly best gloves out there are Tejada’s and Hu’s glove.
We know of these 2 gloves neither have shown they can handle MLB Pitching but Tejada has shown flashes of being a better hitter than Hu in his short career.
The thing is unlike the 20 yr old Tejada the Mets don’t believe the 27yr old Hu can ever be a starting 2b so he is out of the mix as of now for consideration as the starting 2b.
Then with Tejada you have a kid that they would rather have down in AAA honing his skills and playing SS but if the remaining candidates for starting 2b don’t hit exceptionally well in S.T. to offset whatever below average glove they may possess they may consider putting Tejada in the mix if he can show them in S.T. his bat is just as good or better than the competition.
In the end your looking for someone that has a above avg bat to offset his below avg glove or someone with a above avg glove to offset his avg bat.
At least that is the sense I am getting so far in camp.
Don’t forget that other teams are going to be making cuts too.
Oh indeed I am not and even though I know you don’t have much stock in this I’m not ruling out a trade as well.
There wont be a trade of Castillo. Other teams see what the Mets have at 2B other than Castillo, pluse what Collins has said about him and what he feels 2B requires, abnd will just wait it out till he is released and pay him 400,000.
On the other hand, IF LOLiver shows he can be on par with replacement level, I can see the Cards or maybe Skanks, trying to get him for a C level prospect if we pay 10 mil of the 12 mil owed.