Waiver Thursday

[Edgy MD]

The Mets have claimed José Castillo (again) off waivers from Baltimore. José spent last season with four different organizations, one of whom was the Mets, for whom he cranked out a 2.35 ERA, striking out 19 and walking six in 15 1/3 innings.

Sounds good, but it wasn't good enough for the Mets to see fit to keep him off the waiver wire. He was claimed by the Mariners, who then exposed him less than two weeks later, allowing him to get claimed by the Orioles.

Had the Mariners saw fit to hang on to him, they would maybe be drinking the champagne right now, while the Dodgers thirst. But such is the world.

In case you do not remember, Castillo was (and still is) a 6'6" lefty, built solid. He has a lot of ass, but carries it well, and has picked up the tag "Big Dude" somewhere along the way. He wore 54 with the Mets, which matches his offensive guard/inside linebacker build, but he has worn 66 for other teams, and that is a great number for powerfully built lefty reliever with ample caboose, bringing up fond memories of the Josh Edgin era.

The Mets got particularly grabsy in the moment, also reeling in Ji Hwan Bae from the Pirates. Ji, gifted with a sexy, surfer-dude smile, has never really found traction as a hitter over 163 MLB games, OPS-ing at an Ordóñezian .587 in 514 trips to the plate. But he is a legit centerfielder, and that is nothing to sneeze at on a team that was faking it in center — sometimes on both sides of the ball (cough! Cedric Mullins! cough!) — for much of the year.

One of the fastest players in the league, he may be the guy the Mets try to find every season to serve as pinch-runner/defensive replacement — and usually find they don't have the room to keep around once they start playing fast and loose with the roster. He also plays second and shortstop, and while he displayed a solid contact-hitting ability in the minors, it has yet to translate in the bigs. And with little power, his walk tool and and his speed have been his offensive game so far.

But, you know, maybe.

[Edgy MD]

Not-So-Fun Fact About Ji Hwan Bae: Behind that surfer boy smile may be a real creep, as he was convicted in South Korea of assaulting a girlfriend back in 2017, serving a a 30-game suspension stateside while still in the minors, following his conviction for the offense in 2019.