Tag: Luis Castillo

Poll Results: Mets 2009 Leadoff Hitter

Jose Reyes And Luis CastilloThe results are in and most of you prefer Jose Reyes over Luis Castillo to hit leadoff. The margin was 70% to 30% and I have to agree. Now we’re starting to hear from Mets manager Jerry Manuel that he’s thinking about going back to Reyes leading off. The media stories we’ve been getting from Manuel about Castillo leading off go to my theory of Manuel working mind games.

We should also refer to the excellent post that Cyril Morong wrote at Cybermetrics about the best leadoff hitters in baseball last summer. It’s worth noting that Jose Reyes is at the top of the list in his statistical analysis.

In my mind, Manuel shouldn’t fix something that isn’t broken. Leave Reyes in the leadoff spot and try to hide Castillo at the bottom of the order. Maybe he could even try one of those crazy lineup’s that Tony LaRussa uses with the pitcher hitting eighth and Castillo ninth.

Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Poll: New York Mets 2009 Leadoff Hitter

We’ve heard some talk from Mets manager Jerry Manuel this spring about batting Luis Castillo in the leadoff spot instead of Jose Reyes. Now we’re starting to see that actually happen in spring games. Not that spring games mean too much, so we have to take it with a grain of salt. I’m curious to hear what your thoughts are on the topic. I find it hard to believe that Castillo could supplant Reyes as the Mets regular leadoff hitter.

Manuel Works Mets, Media With Mind Games

Jerry ManuelJerry Manuel has been busy working the local beat writers to his own ends this spring. And as such, he’s been working us in the blogsphere that write and talk with friends and fellow fans about the Mets.

Is he really going to hit Luis Castillo leadoff? Is he really going to platoon Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis in right field? Does he really think Daniel Murphy is a better hitter than Ryan Church? Is he really going to play Brian Schneider more frequently than last season? Why is he discussing these issues with the media before telling the players that are impacted?

Manuel is proving himself to be a master manipulator, using the media and us for his own purposes. He’s verbalized the fact that he’s going to challenge his players this year. We just didn’t know he was going to do it through the media.

Although Manuel took over the Mets last June, we were used to three plus years of Willie Randolph’s stoic personality. Randolph didn’t give us much except a quiet, occasionally bewildered, discussion of the day’s events.

Manuel is using all of us to push, pull, and prod the players. He’s poking at them with his comments, giving confidence to some while putting others on notice. He clearly knows what he wants from the players and is busy preparing them mentally as well as physically for the season.

I like what he’s doing this spring. Each player needs to be treated differently, in the way that will draw the most out of them during the season. Castillo and Murphy are getting confidence building comments. Church, Jose Reyes, and Ramon Castro are being challenged to improve.

While I applaud Manuel’s ability to read his players, I take his comments with a grain of salt. I anticipate that Reyes will get the vast majority of games batting leadoff, and Fernando Tatis will get most of his playing time in left field. I’d like to see Manuel take advantage of Ramon Castro’s big bat at least twice a week. But Manuel is sure showing that he’s a manipulator… He’s gone gangsta on the media.

Luis Castillo Arrives At Mets 2009 Spring Training

Luis CastilloThe goat of the 2008 Mets team arrived in camp today. He’s been working out all winter at the Mets academy in the Dominican Republic. According to Newday’s David Lennon, Castillo declared himself “a new man”.

That has yet to be seen. But Castillo sure has something to prove this season. Lennon reports that Castillo lost 17 pounds over the winter, which is a good start. He looked like a little meatball last season with gimpy knees. He’s listed at 5′ 11″ but he looks more like 5′ 9″ to me. Lennon writes that Castillo played at 210 pounds last season. That’s ridiculous for a guy his size. Apparently, there isn’t a weight clause in his Mets contract.

The worst thing about seeing Castillo show up at spring training is knowing that Orlando Hudson still hasn’t signed with a team. What a shame that the Mets’ hands are tied by Castillo’s contract. It was reported months ago that Castillo contacted Omar Minaya begging not to be traded and promising to get into shape. Well, now’s the time to prove it. Because if Orlando Hudson shows up at Citi Field ten times this season in a Washington Nationals uniform, it’ll be hard for us Mets fans to watch.

After playing in only 87 games last season and hitting 47 points below his career average, Castillo needs to have a monster season or he’s gone after 2009. Minaya won’t stand for another season out of him like last year. He’s starting his second chance.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Mets Sign IF Alex Cora

alexcora1

The Mets announced the signing of infielder Alex Cora, formerly of the Boston Red Sox. He’ll become the backup middle infielder for this season. He signed a 1-year/$2 million contract yesterday.

He’s your typical light-hitting middle infielder that can pick it at shortstop and second base. So Damion Easley won’t be coming back which is fine with me. Easley had some big hits but was a liability in the field and had too many nagging injuries for a part time player.

Alex has 11 major league seasons under his belt and he turned 33 in October. His brother Joey is the White Sox bench coach. Cora brings a career .245 average with basically no power. His lifetime slugging percentage is .348.

I’m usually pretty neutral about bench players because they don’t usually have a major impact over an entire season. But I thought the Mets would’ve looked for a back up infielder that had some pop in his bat. With Luis Castillo being an automatic out, they could use someone like Easley that brought some offensive contrast to the position. We’ll see how this works out.

Andruw Jones Restructures Contract; Mets Still Pass On Deal

Several media reports today have indicated that Andruw Jones has restructured his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in an attempt to facilitate his exit from LA. The deal with allow the Dodgers to pay Jones his $15 million salary, that he was scheduled to make this year, over the next six years. The Dodgers will pay no interest on the deferred funds.

Obviously, both Jones and the Dodgers don’t want him to be in LA for the 2009 season. The word is that Jones has requested a trade and if he can’t be traded the Dodgers will likely release him.

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that a Mets source is telling him that even with the Dodgers paying Jones’ salary this year there’s no chance that the Mets will trade for Jones.

As I wrote last week, this deal barely makes sense for the Mets even if the Dodgers would take Luis Castillo in the trade. Carlos Beltran IS the Mets center fielder and Jones won’t be happy playing a corner. There’s no question in my mind about that. Not to mention the fact that Jones is overweight and just plain hasn’t hit for two consecutive seasons now.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Report: Mets And Dodgers Talk Andruw Jones Trade

Andruw Jones, a Major League Baseball player i...
Image via Wikipedia

Buster Olney is reporting at ESPN that the Mets and Dodgers are talking about a deal that would send Andruw Jones to New York. Olney writes that the Dodgers would be willing to eat some of the money left on the last year of Jones’ contract.

Jones has been terrible for two seasons in a row now. He gained a lot of weight and lost several steps in the outfield. Olney surmises that the Mets would put Jones in right field supplanting Ryan Church.

I can’t figure out how this makes sense for the Mets unless the Dodgers are willing to take Luis Castillo in return. But Olney writes that the Dodgers likely have no interest in Castillo because Blake DeWitt is playing second base.

Omar Minaya has made some bad signings during his career but he’s usually pretty saavy in the trade market. I’ll be surprised if he’s willing to take on Andruw Jones at this point in his career.

Enhanced by Zemanta