Luis Castillo

[Guest Edgy DC]

Maybe we can check the data and see if rookies make more errors-per-inning in the post-season than vets do.

I doubt it. On the other hand, it was the post-season when Rick Ankiel's control fell apart.

[Frayed Knot]

A few other thoughts:

* He (theoreticaly at least) improves our 2nd base hitting against LHPs (his L/R stats are virtually identical) although one could argue that a platoon of Easley could have done that too

* You hope his slappy-type of hitting was NOT a product of turf fields - although there didn't seem to be much of a change when moving from Fla to Minn

[Frayed Knot]

LoDuca on Castillo (who he played with in Florida): "One of my favorite teammates ever ... New York's gonna love him"

Of course if he really hated his guts I'm sure he'd readily volulteer that info on a 50K-watt radio station

[Guest Edgy DC]

And on this day, Luis Castillo was tagged with The Curse of Pecota.

[Gwreck]

ESPN's Keith Law doesn't think much of the trade:

] Luis Castillo might represent an upgrade over Ruben Gotay, and he might not. Castillo is a one-dimensional player whose game revolves around his speed. He's a classic slap hitter who can't even turn on average fastballs but who hits the ball on the ground and tries to slap harder stuff the other way and beat balls out with his speed. His speed has already started to decline; his range at second base, never great, is now poor, and he hasn't been an effective basestealer since 2004. He's the antithesis of everything the Omar Minaya's Mets do as an offensive club. Their best hitters -- Reyes, Wright, Delgado and Beltran -- all get on base, hit for power, and (except for Delgado) steal bases at high percentages. Whether he's really an upgrade depends on how much of Gotay's offensive outburst this season is real. Gotay's career was nearly derailed by the Royals' ridiculous policy of jumping players two levels or more to the majors before they were ready, a policy that fortunately seems to have ended with the hiring of GM Dayton Moore, but before that showed promise as a young infielder with plate discipline and some doubles power. The Mets are convinced that Gotay's defense isn't good enough to be an everyday second baseman, and he will never be better than average defensively at second, but he's better than Castillo is. Add to that the fact that Gotay has a little more thump in his bat, with a solid line-drive stroke that produces doubles rather than the groundballs Castillo hits, and it's really not clear that the Mets got better here. It's a bit worse if, as rumored, the Mets try to work out a contract extension with Castillo, because once his speed is gone, he'll be close to a replacement-level player. The Mets didn't give much up to acquire Castillo. Drew Butera is a catch-and-throw catcher with plus makeup and good bloodlines -- his father, Sal, played in the big leagues for the Twins and is now a pro scout with Toronto -- but he's not much of an offensive threat. He should play in the big leagues because of his defensive skills, but he's not a starter, even when he wasn't staring up at Joe Mauer on the depth chart. Dustin Martin was a senior sign out of Sam Houston State in 2006 and is an organizational player with a little bit of ability; there's an outside chance he could improve enough to become a 4th/5th outfielder in the majors.

[metirish]

Gotay has better defence than Castillo?.....if that's true then it changes my view.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would hope that the Mets would at least wait until they're done playing in 2007 before talking about a contract extension with Castillo.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Sort of my analysis also. They're jumpy and they went after experience.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

]Luis Castillo might represent an upgrade over Ruben Gotay, and he might not.

The kind of insight Baseball Prospects and ESPN Insider charges you for... free! Thank you, Keith Law. It's all clear now.

[Gwreck]

In fairness to Keith Law, he's usually a lot better (and I submit the rest of the article is too) than that one Madden-esque sentence.

[Vic Sage]

Castillo is a steadier defensive player, but his range has decreased as his knee injuries have increased.

In a fantasy league, you'd pick up castillo off the waiver wire, but continue to play Gotay as long as he stayed hot. In the real world, however, if you put Castillo on the bench behind Gotay, he'd be so upset you'd likely lose him as a player for the remainder of the season. And when Gotay cools off, as he is likely to do (given his minor league numbers and high BAPIP) you'd have nobody reliable to turn to, other than Easley. And, also unlike in fantasy baseball, defense counts... at least a bit. what i've seen of Gotay makes me think that he's erratic enough to make Willie nervous, and so Castillo was brought in to soothe WWSB's low tolerance for defensive inconsistency.

i'm not against the move, based on the low committment to Castillo and the relative value of what we gave up for him, but by putting Gotay on the bench, we're losing one of our hotter hitters in exchange for a guy that gives you nothing more than an ocasional single these days. I doubt he gains us more defensively than he gives up to Gotay offensively. However, since i was dubious of Gotay's ability to maintain this level of offensive production, i think we would've ended up with more of Easley and Marlon Anderson at 2b, by the end of the year, and i think Castillo is superior to that combo, overall. And so, i think Castillo will be of more valuable in October (if we get to post-season) than Gotay, due to consistency playoff experience, and the likelihood of Gotay's decline the longer he plays.

So if we survive the balance of the season with a lead, this move may help in the post-season.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Funny that most of us dislike intangible cliches like"He's been there before; he knows what to do," but we're mumbling them through gritted teeth.

In short, the guy's not all that, but we're all a litle nervous about Gotay after seeing him throw away a game on a DP ball, and now we're a little less nervous, and so welcome a guy whose name and salary probably outweigh what he's actually bringing to the table.

Bordick, man, Bordick.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, obviously a roster move will need to be made .... I assume it'll be a Beltran DL-ing.
I don't think he even made the trip to Wisconson.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

While I don't think that second base was the Mets position of greatest need, I do believe that Keith Law is selling Castillo's abilities short. Castillo definitely is not a a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, never has been. He does however, hit for a high average, has a good OBP, and consistently makes contact. His defense is also better than the article would make one think. Castillo has 3 Gold Gloves on his home mantle, the last one as recently as 2005. Though his speed is not what it once was, he still runs pretty well.

A look at what Castillo has done the past 2+ seasons shows his value as a second place hitter if he can continue to produce at the same rate in New York.

2005....301/.391/65/32 (AVG/OBP/BB/K)
2006....296/.358/56/58
2007....304/351/29/28

Gotay has been a very pleasant surprise this season and may well play a significant role in the Mets future, but I have no great problem with trading for Castillo since the price appears to have been minimal. I do believe that the Mets should wait until the end of the season, before possibly pursuing a contract extension.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Even if Castillo speed has declined, which you really can't argue against, it hasn't gotten to the point where he's ineffective. He's gotten on base at a .356 clip this season, .358 last year. You know what to expect. Gotay, for all his upside, isn't a sure a thing to keep going at the rate he is.

I like Castillo's game because of how it fits in the #2 hole behind Reyes.

Do I like him long term? Hell no. Any talks on an extension are going to worry me.

[Farmer Ted]

The Mets have come up big in recent years with the no-name guy that produces down the stretch, see Timo Perez and Endy Chavez. I was hoping that Gotay would have more chances, moreso than Easley and Valentin.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I like Baseball America's take on the trade.

]If nothing else, Castillo provides the Mets with a consistent offensive and defensive performer at second base, something the club has lacked all season. Jose Valentin opened the season as the Mets' regular at the position, but he hit a miserable .241/.302/.373 in 51 games before going down with injury. Ruben Gotay has hit well as Valentin's primary replacement (.350/.382/.504 in 123 at-bats), but he's a career .276/.355/.423 hitter in the minors and appears to be playing over his head. Damion Easley also has played well (.266/.339/.438 in 169 at-bats), but at age 37 he's a below-average defender and is more valuable as a reserve. In Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert, the Twins have two switch-hitting second basemen in Triple-A ready to step in for Castillo. Butera gives them catching depth, which they sorely lack, and Martin has the hitting instincts to develop into a reserve outfielder down the road.

[metsmarathon]

my take on the trade is that the mets are concerned that an everyday gotay will become overexposed like we saw happen to endy chavez, and luis castillo can finally give us some consistency in the two-hole, perhaps preventing teams from simply electing not to pitch to reyes, and also gives us the opportunity to move milledge down into a more run-producing spot in the order.

on the whole, i'm lukewarm over the trade. i'd like to see what gotay can really do, and whether or not he can be a 'second baseman of the future' for us. his bat so far says maybe yes, while his glove says maybe no.

i guess a pennant chase is not the best time to figure these things out?

[Benjamin Grimm]

metsmarathon wrote: i guess a pennant chase is not the best time to figure these things out?

That's where I'm at.

I'd like them to give Gotay a good look in March (and perhaps April and May) but I suspect that the Mets will get somebody over the winter, either Castillo or someone else, who will arrive at St. Lucie as the presumptive second baseman.

I think Milledge has a better shot at being the presumptive corner outfielder, given that the Mets will probably look to replace both Alou and Green, but that's for another time and another thread.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Kind of makes one wish they gave him a stronger look this March and April and May, though, huh?

[Willets Point]

="Edgy DC"]Kind of makes one wish they gave him a stronger look this March and April and May, though, huh?

That would defy the Mets' Ol' Geezer Policy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, they kept Easley over him, yeah, but Easley has done some performing as well.

But Gotay did manage a .111 IsOBP in 23 Zephyr games.

[G-Fafif]

Mets.com lists LC as No. 1.

Screw you, Anderson Hernandez.