Philadelphia Phillies and Luis Castillo: Pros and Cons
Well, it looks like it may be a reality: Luis Castillo is reported close to signing a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Quite frankly, I am not sure how I feel about this. One would assume that there are some pros and some cons so let’s take a look at some of them
One major pro is that he is most likely going to be very, very cheap. He is already guaranteed $6M from the NY Mets, so the Phillies would be able to sign him for his qualifying league minimum, approximately $485,000. Cheap labor of this caliber is always a good thing and of course it makes it a very low risk/high reward proposition for the Phillies. Added Bonus: how great would it be to watch Castillo play against the Mets while they are paying him? Does it get any better than that?
Another pro would be that Castillo was, at one point, a very good hitter. His last full uninjured season was as recent as 2009 and he managed a very respectable .302 avg, .387 OBP and 77 runs scored. He has a very low strike out rate which would help what is currently a very K-prone lineup. His ability to put the ball in play could come in handy on a team like the Phillies who put a lot of runners on base and often only need a ground ball out or sacrifice fly to score a run. Also, he can still run, swiping 23 bags in 2009. Whether or not he can regain that form remains to be seen, but for $485K, don’t you almost have to take that shot?
He was hurt most of 2010 so any numbers from that year may be skewed but I assure you they are not good. Also, you have to take into account he was a Met and quite frankly it really seems as though most of those guys, especially the veterans, just flat out gave up.
Let’s throw in a con: Wilson Valdez won’t get the much-deserved shot he has earned at second base. Valdez has been on fire this spring playing nearly every day and hitting over .400. He is playing several positions defensively and has been really impressive at all of them. He has even played some outfield this spring and done a very fine job at it. I personally would be slightly upset if Valdez didn’t at least get the opportunity at the job. The only thing that scares me about Valdez is his propensity to hit into the double play.
Another con is no one really knows his clubhouse attitude. The Phillies are known to have one of the best clubhouses in all of baseball; just ask Cliff Lee. They have taken tremendous care in achieving this chemistry. When Pat Gillick took over the team in 2005 he made it a point of contention to trade away great talents that were disruptive clubhouse members and it’s a philosophy that appears to have really worked. There is a rumor that the Phillies grade clubhouse attitude in their scouting reports and very seriously consider that grade when deciding on a player. There are many who believe, myself among them, that this is the reason the Philles are as successful as they are, despite injuries, despite slumps, despite poor outings–the Phillies always endure.
How about a pro: he hits from both sides of the plate. He could offer a right-handed bat in what is considered a very heavily weighted left handed lineup. Similar to Shane Victorino, he hits about equally from both sides; with a career .298 as a right-handed batter and .294 as a left-handed batter. Given the fact that most of the teams in the NL East have adjusted their bullpens to deal with the Phillies left-handed attack, this could prove extremely valuable.
All in all I would have to say it’s a good move for the Phillies however it is totally dependent on what they will pay him. As Ruben Amaro has recently been quoted as saying the team is completely tapped out financially, my guess would be the only way he becomes a Phillie is at the bare minimum price. I would further assume that Castillo would take that. He is, after all, still earning his $6M from the Mets this season and he would be playing for a contender. So if it happens: Good for you Luis Castillo, and welcome to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Let me know what you think. Is signing Luis Castillo a good move? Do you have another pro or con? Leave a comment and let me know.
UPDATE: It’s a done deal. Minor league contract which minimizes financial damage if t doesn’t work out. Good move by Ruben Amaro as he has managed to put the team in a win/win situation.
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Philadelphia Phillies 2011: No Chase Utley, No Jayson Werth, No Problem
Everyone is gunning for the Phillies.
A quick look at any sports news outlet and you will see a myriad of “doom and gloom” scenarios all pointing to why the Phillies won’t contend in 2011.
You’ll read about Chase Utley’s injury and how the Phillies are doomed without him; how age will be their undoing and you’ll read a lot about Jimmy Rollins and how he has “seen better days” and that without him there is no way they can win.
Well, I‘m here to tell you, don’t believe any of it.
The Philadelphia Phillies will win the NL East; they will win the National League Championship and they have the best chance of winning the World Series. In fact, they will have a better chance than who ever happens to win the American League Pennant (insert Boston Red Sox-sounding cough here).
Utley is an amazing player but he does not hold the fate of the Philadelphia Phillies in his hands…or his knees for that matter. He missed almost half of the 2010 season with a broken hand and yet the Phillies managed to finish with the best record in Major League Baseball.
You can also add Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and catcher Carlos Ruiz to the list of players who missed significant playing time in 2010.
While backup catcher Brian Schneider managed to avoid the DL, he was virtually unplayable for a good two weeks when Ruiz was out, leaving the Phillies to rely on Dane Sardinha, a call-up from the minor leagues. All those injuries to all those players and still, the best record in baseball.
They were able to overcome these injuries for a very simple reason: the bench, and in particular, Wilson Valdez—who was a New York Mets throwaway picked up by the Phillies in the offseason prior to the start of the 2010 season.
Valdez didn’t make the team initially, but when Rollins got hurt early in the season he was called up to replace him. Oddly, he was soon designated for assignment and after clearing waivers landed back on the Phillies’ minor-league affiliate. He was soon brought back and filled a huge void for the team for the remainder of the season.
So far this spring Valdez is on fire, playing every day and hitting well above .300. He is the main reason the Phillies are not looking elsewhere to fill the void of an injured Utley.
The main knock on Valdez is his propensity to hit into the double play. If he can manage to improve that aspect of his game he might qualify as one of the best bench players in baseball.
Yes, the Phillies are the oldest team in baseball. If you add the age of every player on the major-league roster and then divide that sum by 25 (number of roster spots) you will in fact have a higher number than any other team in baseball.
Why?
Most of these guys have proven that they can perform and there was no need to call up young talent from the system.
Does that make their combined average age a negative or a positive?
Well, you figure it out. Is the fact that they have a 31-year-old first basemen who is so good he manages to be among the league leaders in production every year a good thing or a bad thing? Sure, once these guys start to decline the age will become a factor, but at this particular juncture in time, this has not really happened.
Which brings us to Jimmy Rollins.
There is no doubt about it, his numbers are falling rapidly.
But why? Is it because of his age?
I don’t think so and I watch every Phillies game, all year long.
What I see in Rollins is extremely poor decision making at the plate with poor at-bats. He swings at bad pitches, he swings early in the count, he seems to always be trying to hit the long ball and he flat-out refuses to walk. Pitchers aren’t getting him out, he’s getting himself out.
Rollins actually started last season off on a tear, hitting over .350 when he injured himself. When he returned to the lineup it seemed as if he was trying to get all his production back at one time, typically on the first pitch. Unfortunately, this is only a problem Jimmy can fix.
From what I have seen of him in spring training, it doesn’t look as though he is on the right path. I really don’t know how long he will last in 2011 if he cannot become a more disciplined, smarter hitter. The bright side is the team was without him for a majority of 2010 and, as mentioned above, they still managed the best record in all of baseball.
Another adage you’ll hear from the naysayers’ mouths refers to the loss of Jayson Werth and how ultimately he was the glue that held the team together and he was the key to the Phillies success and other nonsense.
I guess no one bothered to look at Mr. Werth’s average with runners in scoring position (RISP).
I did. It was .186. Werth came through with the all-important hit with a runner on second or third 19 times out of 100.
As we know these hits almost always result in the true objective of the game—scoring runs—and .186 is a miserable number.
The biggest factor in the Phillies’ offensive woes of 2010, besides the injuries, can be attributed to Werths’ poor RISP percentage. While he may be missed defensively, his production on offense should be fairly easy to make up.
Despite Werth’s inability to come through with a run-scoring hit, the Phillies still had the best record in all of baseball?
Most likely the Phillies will replace Werth with a platoon consisting of Ben Francisco, Ross Gload and John Mayberry. All three have had fantastic springs and should easily be able to adequately replace the .186 avg. with RISP brought to you by the good folks at Jayson Werth. Enjoy D.C. and your $126 million, Jay.
The addition of Cliff Lee clearly makes them a better team than they were last year. And they only had ace Roy Oswalt for half of the season in 2010. No other team in the National League has made improvements as significant as the Phillies did by adding Lee.
The mainstream media is pandering with their knocks on the Phiillies, but can you blame them?
We all read the stories and ultimately that is their goal. I usually just think about last year when they had the…you know. So, if you’re still worried or if you still don’t believe the Phillies will have a more than successful year, I welcome your explanations of how and why.
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