Just when you thought the hot stove was down to its final ember, the rumor mill sputtered to life last night! Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that the Mets were interested in signing Ivan Rodriguez. Adam Rubin reported that no, they weren’t. I’m going with Rubin on this one, based on past reporting.
But the news that the Mets had roughly $2 million in reserve to spend on either a fallback plan for Johan Santana and/or a backup catcher is interesting. All things being equal, I’d have preferred to see the Mets bring in another starting pitcher with that money. The five of Santana/Dickey/Niese/Pelfrey/Gee is relatively sound, but Santana is an obvious question mark, Gee has options in case the roster is too stocked with starting pitching (which never happens), and the backup plans are Miguel Batista, Garrett Olson and Chuck James.
Bartolo Colon, incidentally, signed for exactly $2 million with Oakland. He’d have been a nice fit.
That said, I don’t see how they are spending that $2 million on anything approaching starting pitching depth with what is left on the market. Roy Oswalt isn’t taking $2 million to pitch with the Mets. And the remaining free agent options are uninspiring, to say the least. I’d be fine with Javier Vazquez or Doug Davis, but that seems prohibitively expensive for either.
But the Mets can still help themselves at catcher, and it shouldn’t take $2 million. Consider that Ramon Castro made $2 million, combined, over the past two years. For the job of backing up Josh Thole, facing left-handed pitchers and giving the Mets pop off the bench, Castro shouldn’t require more than $600,000 or so. Realistically, that isn’t even a large chunk of the $2 million, since it means Mike Nickeas returns to Triple-A, rather than earning the MLB minimum salary of $480,000. That leaves plenty of room for Davis or Vazquez, if needed.
And Castro can still mash. He put up a .928 OPS against lefties last year, and his career mark is .808. Ivan Rodriguez hasn’t approached that kind of offense against lefties in years. And Mike Nickeas has a career OPS against everyone of .493. I mean, this isn’t close.
This is a massive hole that doesn’t need to exist on the 2012 New York Mets. Here’s hoping Ramon Castro is back in Port St. Lucie, and soon.
9 Comments
Castro shouldn’t have been traded in the first place. Jerry Manuel just HAD to get Omir Santos more ABs.
With a man on first, you pray that Castro hits into a double-play or strikes out (both of which he does with smart efficiency) so that you don’t have to watch him on the basepaths, like watching the hippos in Fantasia. I’d rather watch a retired firemen’s softball game. Couple years ago, he made 800 grand. He’s looking for a raise? That the Mets even consider this 36 year old squatting behemoth tells you how sad the situation really is.
Gotta say, Castro is well known for not working too hard and being satisfied with a part-time or backup gig. I can’t see that going over too well with Terry Collins. It’s easy to make fun of the idea that such things should trump the modest increase you’d get in production with Castro over (say) Mike Nickeas, but I support Collins’s view that a grind-it-out mentality is crucial if this team is going to exceed expectations.
Did you notice that Castro had just 203 plate appearances in the last two years combined and spent 3 months on the DL over that time? Add in his reported fair to poor work ethic and the fact that he is 36 – why exactly would they want to sign him? You’d be flushing the money down the toilet while he is on the DL with some bogus injury and Nickeas plays anyway. Pretty dumb waste of an article.
Always liked Castro and was upset when he left. Mets desperately need some power from the catcher position, to me it’s a no lose proposition, hopefully he’s got something left in the tank.
Paul, it was infuriating. I wrote about it at the time.
http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090601&content_id=5085378&vkey=9
Ernest, which speed demon are you hoping can play backup catcher for the Mets?
FWIW, Castro’s work ethic concerns in New York were not shared by the people I talked to in Chicago. For the amount of money it would likely take to sign him- almost certainly less than the $800,000 or $1.2 million he’s made in the past two years- he could provide a big boost in an area the roster is sadly lacking.
Ask Terry Collins after a couple of margaritas about Castro’s work ethic. He won’t comment while sober. Sportswriters, especially those who cover only the Mets, should be familiar with the inside skinny.