Memories of Luis Castillo

[TransMonk]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Not his fault but got a contract that was four times the length it should have been. Not his fault but Mets were never good enough during his stay to thrive with a player of his limited usefulness in the everyday lineup. Not his fault but the Mets didn't have or couldn't find a better option.

This.

I don't care about the popup. If it were done against the Marlins, many Mets fans would barely remember. That game meant less than nothing to me in the long run of that less-than-meaningful season.

[Ceetar]

I wonder what they were talking about at 10am this morning...

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

"Sandy don't look back. But is that creep with the camera still checking out my ass?"

[MFS62]

I remember some very generous scoring decisions at home in 2009 on some of his 19 sac bunts. More than a few were attempts for a base hit. Turn a few of those into outs, and his BA might have dropped below .300.
But alll in all, he wasn't as terrible as some major league regulars. Just not quite as good as we would have wanted him to be.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Everybody in baseball, if they bunt a guy over while attempting to beat it out, will tend to get credited with a sacrifce.

The implication that he was manipulating the scoring system to achieve a .300 batting average is absurd.

[MFS62]

Of course, Castillo had nothing to do with those decisions. I never said that he tried to manipulate anything.
There have always been scoring decisions that favor the home team. I'm just saying that I remember (the topic of the thread, right?) some obvious ones.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

No, neither did I say that you said it. I said you implied it. Which you did.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

smg58 wrote: He had a much better 2009 than most people realize,

The fifth most productive 2B in MLB according to the Runs Created statistic.

Edgy DC wrote: Everybody in baseball, if they bunt a guy over while attempting to beat it out, will tend to get credited with a sacrifce..

Fangraphs discusses this and his abnormally low BABIP last year, in making the case why the Phillies should bite.

Castillo�s 2010 numbers were dragged down by a .259 BABIP, which is absurdly low for a guy who hit the ball on the ground 70 percent of the time. While it�s easy to say that a guy with no power was just hitting into easy outs too often, his BABIPs since 2007 are .325, .267, .338, and .259. His career mark is .329, by the way. While he�s lost a good amount of his speed from earlier in his career, and shouldn�t be expected to post another .330 BABIP, .259 is simply too low to be repeated. That�s the kind of BABIP you expect from a lumbering fly ball hitter, not a guy who bunts with regularity. Marcel projects Castillo�s BABIP to bounce back to .288, which is pretty reasonable given his current skillset. Combined with his walk rate, that gives him a 2011 projected line of .257/.345/.321. Not exactly a superstar, but a .340 on base percentage from your emergency second baseman isn�t the worst thing in the world. That projected .307 wOBA, by the way, is better than any single year mark Valdez has posted, and blows away his career .271 mark.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I agree with that, and was privately hoping the Mets would at least hang onto him long enough for the Phillies to bite, and maybe give the Mets a little something for him, or maybe pick up a few dollars of his salary.

What that contrast doesn't include, however, is defense.

[ashie62]

Phillies, Cubs, Marlins and Orioles after Castillo?

http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/27978034

He could start for any of these.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think he'll sign with whichever is the first to offer him a four-year deal.

[Farmer Ted]

I always held back on criticizing Castillo. I thought that sometime, somewhere he would redeem himself of any bad karma...in a big way. It never happended. And now he has the odasity to say that the Mets never gave him a chance this spring. Luis, you piece of shit. All you had to do is beat out four other guys with a total of 20 major league games under their combined belts at 2B. That's it.
I was there in PSL on Tuesday when you fell asleep and never covered first on the 3-2-4 double play. And that's how I'll remember you, falling asleep; sleep walking through 365 games in the royal blue and orange. Have fun sniffing Utley's taint.

[metirish]

Farmer Ted wrote: I always held back on criticizing Castillo. I thought that sometime, somewhere he would redeem himself of any bad karma...in a big way. It never happended. And now he has the odasity to say that the Mets never gave him a chance this spring. Luis, you piece of shit. All you had to do is beat out four other guys with a total of 20 major league games under their combined belts at 2B. That's it. I was there in PSL on Tuesday when you fell asleep and never covered first on the 3-2-4 double play. And that's how I'll remember you, falling asleep; sleep walking through 365 games in the royal blue and orange. Have fun sniffing Utley's taint.

damning to say the least.....saw a tweet about him showing up a day late for the phillies and that Manuel was pissed with him already....

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: Farmer Ted wrote: I always held back on criticizing Castillo. I thought that sometime, somewhere he would redeem himself of any bad karma...in a big way. It never happended. And now he has the odasity to say that the Mets never gave him a chance this spring. Luis, you piece of shit. All you had to do is beat out four other guys with a total of 20 major league games under their combined belts at 2B. That's it. I was there in PSL on Tuesday when you fell asleep and never covered first on the 3-2-4 double play. And that's how I'll remember you, falling asleep; sleep walking through 365 games in the royal blue and orange. Have fun sniffing Utley's taint. damning to say the least.....saw a tweet about him showing up a day late for the phillies and that Manuel was pissed with him already....

That was presumably blown out of proportion, as all things are. Manuel just assumed that he'd showed up and wrote his name down without ever even seeing him. Sounds like they expected him to drive over Monday night, and he figured he'd stay with hisfamily or whereever he went after he was cut and leave Tuesday morning.

[metirish]

blown all out of proportion sure......but geez Luis , get over there no?

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: blown all out of proportion sure......but geez Luis , get over there no?

yeah. Once they were finalizing details of the deal probably would've been wise to get in the car and head over there. He probably thinks the jobs gonna be handed to him in Utley's absense.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: That was presumably blown out of proportion, as all things are. Manuel just assumed that he'd showed up and wrote his name down without ever even seeing him. Sounds like they expected him to drive over Monday night, and he figured he'd stay with hisfamily or whereever he went after he was cut and leave Tuesday morning.

This. Except add a day in between-- they signed him Sunday afternoon, pencilled him in for the next day and Tuesday, then found out on Monday that he wasn't leaving his house until Tuesday morning.

[Guest themetfairy]

He's a real go-getter....

[Benjamin Grimm]

Face it, his career is winding down. He's earning $6 million either way. He can work hard and try to extend his career, but he still may not be able to get himself a contract from anyone for 2012. So why not start his retirement a little earlier and enjoy himself this year, while being paid handsomely to do so.

I don't know for sure that that's how he's thinking, of course. But if Castillo senses that he's done anyway, I can understand his lack of motivation.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Then why sign the minor-league deal with the Phils now?

[Benjamin Grimm]

He may be trying to motivate himself.

Who knows? I'm just groping in the dark here. His effort to continue his career has seemed awfully half-hearted, hasn't it?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Maybe, but I think that's maybe drawing too much from too little.

[Frayed Knot]

Castillo in the lineup for today's Phillies - playing 2nd, batting 2nd.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Improves to 0 for 8 as a Philly.

[Frayed Knot]

The Second Spitter wrote: Improves to 0 for 8 as a Philly.

On top of today's news that Chase Utley will almost certainly start the year on the DL.

[metirish]

According to a Philly guy on twitter there is every chance Castillo will be released by the Phillies , things not going good apparently.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Just giving in to the fan outrage.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

metirish wrote: According to a Philly guy on twitter there is every chance Castillo will be released by the Phillies , things not going good apparently.

Utley's so annoyed by the lateness, he got up off of his stool and stood. Why, I hear he's considering writing a stern letter to the community newspaper about the whole thing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

For what it's worth, many Philly blogs were on fire ripping the Mets when the Walter Reed non-story broke last season.

(When a similar visit by the Phils produced a lower turnout, not so much.)

[metirish]

Released by Phillies