18
2011
25 Million Later…Luis Castillo In Retrospect.
An article by 
Luis Castillo was officially released today and is no longer on the active roster of the New York Mets. I wish I could’ve heard these words a few years ago, but after reading numerous posts and insights into the situation varying from “good riddance” to “why?” I decided to give a full scope look into the entire tenure of Luis Castillo with the Mets, both defensively and offensively, trying to be as neutral as possible.
Luis Castillo was good for the Mets in 2007, as in good fit, not good player. His better days were way behind him, and the Mets needed an everyday second baseman to solidify that team. Instead of trying out a younger player or signing a free agent, the Mets spent 25 million re-signing a 31-year old slap-hitting second baseman who’s value was entirely in his legs, that which towards the latter part of his career gave out on him. Watching him hobble on his uneven legs to first base was something that really made me shrink.
As bad as the Oliver Perez deal was, the difference is Minaya paid for potential and the fact that Perez threw with the wrong hand for Perez. In Castillo he threw 6 million annually at an OBP machine with fading defense who in the last 2 years just seemed to get on base by not swinging at pitches. I recall seeing Castillo look at strike-3 without swinging at all in an at-bat a few times, and his OBP shows it. Last year he posted his lowest OBP numbers since 1998, when he was a part-time player.
Now, the strictly statistic point of view:
Offensively…
Luis Castillo was traded to the Mets from the Twins in 2007 for 2 minor league prospects, Drew Butera and Dustin Martin. Castillo’s primary purpose was to fill the gap that was left by Jose Valentin when he broke a bone in his leg fouling a pitch off it. Castillo’s line for Twins was 54 runs, 0 home runs, 18 RBI, 9 stolen bases in 13 attempts and 29 walks to 28 strikeouts. Upon coming to the Mets, Castillo’s line over 199 ABs was 37 runs, 1 home run, 20 RBI, 10 steals in 12 attempts and 24 walks to 17 strikeouts. Despite these numbers, he managed 25 XBH throughout the season, with 5 of them being triples. Based on this stat-line, the Mets gave out a 4 year/25 million dollar contract to Castillo in hopes of solidifying their infield around young up-and-coming stars David Wright and Jose Reyes.
In 2008, Castillo’s numbers took a nose dive as he was injured. In 298 ABs , his line was 46 runs, 3 home runs, 28 RBI, 17 steals in 19 attempts and 50 walks to 35 strikeouts and a .245 average. Castillo seemingly failed in his first year of the contract, and at that moment the deal looked like a disaster. The two things Castillo was good at – hitting for average and stealing bases, were hindered by his injury and sent his value through the floor. Talks already began swirling about how Castillo needed to be purged and that Minaya had thrown good money at a lackluster player.
Castillo was hell-bent on changing that opinion in 2009, scoring 77 runs, hitting 1 home run, notching 40 RBI, stealing 20 bases in 26 attempts and walking 69 times to 58 strikeouts for a .302 average.Castillo hadn’t neared that walk total since 2005, but his strikeouts were always on a ratio with his walks. It seemed Castillo was swinging more, and thus putting more balls in play, drilling them into the ground. The fanbase hoped 2009 was the real Castillo and 2008 was just bad luck.
In 2010, Luis Castillo played through numerous injuries, but the numbers were not pretty at years end. In 247 ABs, Castillo hit .235 with 28 runs scored, 0 home runs, 18 RBI, 8 steals in 11 attempts and 39 walks to 25 strikeouts. Castillo was benched late in the season and a multitude of farmhands/free agents filled the gaps, showing how far from the Mets grace that Castillo had fallen. A rookie who had limited experience above Double A at shortstop – his natural position, received more playing time then Castillo in September.
Defensively…
Castillo’s UZR, by the years. 1.3, -4.6, -11.3, 2.8. TotalZone says he was 0.7, -11.5, -0.4, 3.0. Both measures seem to agree that in 2008 and 2009 Luis Castillo’s defense had deteriorated to a below average defender. His range in the field, based on FanGraphs clearly has Castillo as an average defender in 2007, well below average in 2008, below average in 2009 and in a limited sample size average or above average in 2010.
What the eye saw was a player who was unable to consistently stay healthy, finding difficulty playing his style of game without his legs and losing whatever value was attributed to his glove once his range deteriorated to something pathetic and his arm made rookie Ike Davis stretch for days.
Closing Thoughts:
Castillo wasn’t exactly a bad player, but he was an average player who was out to get as much money as he could doing what he was good at in his walk year. Regretfully, the Mets paid that sum and were rewarded with one good season, two bad seasons and a season that will more then likely be on the Mets payroll while Castillo plays for another team (Phillies, anyone?). What makes this much worse to the fan is that the proverbial bleeding was only stopped, about 18 million dollars too late.
Luis Castillo, you aren’t a bad baseball player, your age just caught up to you and took the two things that made you worth 6 million plus a year – your speed and your defense. As a fan of the Mets, I’m glad your gone because watching a shell of who you used to be for more money then Angel Pagan hurts me. As a fan of honesty, however – you should’ve been cut at the beginning of spring training instead of being dragged through the mud.
Farewell Luis Castillo.
About the Author: Sean Kenny
Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny
12 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 22 | .511 | 3.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 24 | .467 | 5.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 25 | .405 | 8.0 |
| Marlins | 13 | 32 | .289 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/21/2013
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This wasn’t just about numbers. It was the aura of losing that seemed to follow him. It just seems that since his acquisition, the Mets have been in a downward spiral. Fair or not, Castillo is the symbol of that downward spiral. And he really did himself no favors in just the way he carried himself around the team. He scored a winning run this past season and not one hint of a smile ever came near his face. In fact, I really can’t recall him smiling the past 3 years.
I wish him well, but for all our sanity, he needed to go.
Why are Mets fans so worried about there GARBAGE going to the Phillies. Let him go and but Perez in the truck of your car and bring him to philadelphia also.
You know, Mets just can’t win either way. People complain that Castillo is bad for the club yet others complain that there dropping a player when the team is in financial trouble. Minaya made a mistake when he signed him and now the new regime corrects the problem and people either mock or think the team is in disarray. He had to go and that’s that. Let one of the kids get the roster spot and see what they got. Ollie should be next.
I’ve maintained me position all along that all Luis Castillo was guilty of was agreeing to the contract that was offered to him by Omar Minaya. He did his level best which was worth far less than what Minaya gave him. Castillo is sort of a sympathetic victim in that he caught all the flack while Minaya pretty much coasted. Why didnt the Mets have any second basemen in their minor league pipeline? Why were they running with players like Jose Valentin and Argenis Reyes and Luis Castillo?
You and T Agee share similar opinions.
Are you kidding me? Today is a great day! Castillo has been a prima donna pain in Mets a$$. He needed to pick up his pants and his batting average. Stop dropping infield flys and lose the bad attitude. I hated his play and his post game interviews. In short, Castillo sucks. Good riddance! Great victory for Mets fans an Collin’s clubhouse. I’d rather lose with young players, I like, than lose with old players I hate!
Now, let’s get rid of Ollie and Jeff Wilpon!!!
don’t worry barbella, this will be a very exciting season for you. after OP is gone you will get to send the season deciding which one of the mets to hate next. quite a lofty undertaking, but one you and all the met fans (not) who only hate on met players will gladly take on. lets see who should you hate next !!!! enjoy your demented baseball existence.
“Castillo … was an average player who was out to get as much money as he could doing what he was good at in his walk year.”
Overall a good article. But was Luis different than any other player? All players want the best contract they can get.
“I’m glad your gone because watching a shell of who you used to be for more money then Angel Pagan hurts me.”
It seems to me that this is an issue best directed to the Mets front office and Angel Pagan’s agent.
$6 million a year for a below average guy in his mid 30′s is not that out of the norm in pro ball. It’s half Ollie, a bit more than O-dog, about the same as Aaron Hill, much less than Chone Figgins, and god knows how much less than Zito.
What’s often lost on fans re. Castillo is perspective & while this postng from Seam attempts to accomplish that his failing to mention 2 rather important considerations that presumably led up to the overall value being higher than obviously warranted causes Sean’s attempt to miss objectivity. The 2 points I mentioned are,
#1, Luis had never wanted NYC & avarice WAS NOT A CONSIDERATION. If u stretch youtr memory banks u’ll discover that Duquette as GM was faced with a similar 2B void in ’04 with Castillo on the open free agent market & was engaged in negotiations with NYM as our first option to fill the void; but Castillo demured inking with NY choosing to sign for less time & money to return to FL leaving us to continue our fretful 2B odyssey filling it with Reyes, Matsui instead/.
#2, Sean also chooses to ignore the instance whereby heavily pursued SP Santana(armed with trade veto power) accosted Twins’ mngt for giving up prematurely by dealing Castillo to NYM for virtually nothing when Santana admitted to having a close friendhip with the departed infielder. Santana also, after trade to NYC announced & prior to his decision to accept or reject; admitted he had NO PRECONCEPTIONS re. NYC & would rely upon input from his contacts prior to submitting his decision. Given the facts in evidence there is no conceivable defense for treating Castillo in anyway contentuously given his negative feeling about NYC to begin with & his obvious stastus as Santana confidant. In no way should those factors justify retaining Castillo as long as we have; but it certainly constitutes a more logical rationale for 4/$24M than Sean’s proffered GREED explanation. It shhould also be mentioned that aside from Castillo as a 2B F/A in ’08 the ONLY other option unsigned was KAZ, redux! eventually inked by HOU.
Let me get this straight, even in his ‘good’ year he was average at best overall, listen he didn’t score runs or play defense to anything near an average second baseman. I don’t care about the money. I cared about him dropping the popup and going into a coma while 2 yankees scored in that game years ago. Since that point the Mets have/had never recovered. The Mets have to clean house of negative, selfish, losers.