Signing Luis Castillo

By Amy McCormick

Well, the Mets released second baseman Luis Castillo, who was fairly unpopular among the Mets’ fan base (I know, I didn’t realize they had one, either).  No one else showed legitimate interest in signing him, so the Phillies decided to make a minor league deal with him yesterday.  He cleared waivers yesterday afternoon.  He is due $6 million this season, but the Mets will pay most of that.  The Phils agreed to the league minimum, $414,000. 

Some Philadelphia fans are in an uproar, and I think I know why.  First, it means that the beloved Chase Utley will be out with his knee injury for longer than they’d like.  Second, he was let go by the Mets.  It seems like an insult to Phillies fans to bring in someone that even the Mets don’t want.

I’ve been asked by several people how I feel about the deal, and I honestly didn’t have much of an opinion until now.  I really feel that Chase will be out for a decent chunk of time.  He hasn’t played in one exhibition game this spring, and I have a sinking feeling that the damage to his knee is degenerative (strictly my own speculation).  The truth is, signing Castillo really doesn’t pose any risks, and it could pay off for us.

If you look at Castillo’s numbers from 2010, they’re pretty dismal.  He posted a .235 batting average and played in only 86 games due to a foot injury.  And truth be told, he has lost some of his range in the field.  If we look at previous years, though, his performance is much different.  His career batting average is .290 … in 2009, it was an impressive .302 with a .387 on base percentage.  This could mean one of a few things, and I tend to believe that he had a slump season last year because of his injury.  Thus far in spring training, he has been hitting .286. 

We need some depth in the infield.  I suspect that Wilson Valdez will play on Opening Day (and throughout most of Chase’s absence).  Now, though, we can add Castillo to the group of infielders (Martinez, Orr, Barfield, and Young) competing for a spot on the team.   I’d like to see Castillo play to his potential and do some damage at the plate.  It’s also an advantage that he, like Delwyn Young, is a switch hitter.

I know that Castillo is no Chase Utley.  None of the five players I have mentioned even comes close.  We need to deal with the situation at hand, though, and that is that Utley is out indefinitely.  Until he is 100% healthy, we need substitutions.  Signing Castillo, at the bare minimum, isn’t going to hurt the Phils at all.